The night before the 4th, Chuck and I made our way over to the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade for the Boston Pops concert. They do the same concert 2 nights in a row- the only difference really is that the show on the 4th is nationally televised and ends with a big fireworks show. There were a ton of people there for the concert on the 3rd. I'd say the best way to describe it is "organized chaos." Once we found a place to sit (where we could hear perfectly but not really see too well) it was amazing. We heard the 1812 Overture and got to hear this year's special guest, Jennifer Hudson, who gave us chills and almost made me cry.
On the 4th, Chuck had homework to do before we could go celebrate, so we didn't make it over to the reading of the Declaration. That's ok though. We know what it says. We made our way to the MIT sailing pavilion around 2:30, where several LGOs had already claimed our space and set up food, chairs, drinks and a tent to shield us from the blistering sun. And y'all? Our spot was UH-MAZ-ING. I'm not even trying to talk it up to make it sound better than it really was. Seriously. I would be willing to state with 100 percent certainty that we had literally the best spot in all of Boston to see the fireworks. Right on the water, right in front of the barge, nothing blocking our view, and had the Boston skyline in the background underneath the fireworks. It was magical.
Soon after the Pops concert started, they had to stop because of severe weather. Apparently a big storm was headed towards us. This is when we learned that LGOs can assemble a tent in under 30 seconds when they think they might get rained on. But after about 30 minutes of lightning, wind and no rain, the concert started again and then the fireworks. And THAT'S when it rained. No joke- the second the fireworks started, so did the rain. And unfortunately the tent had already been disassembled so... we got soaked. But it was worth it. The finale was especially awesome. It was so loud and powerful, I think I could feel my insides shaking.
I don't care how young or how old you are. Fireworks are awesome. And you feel just as amazed and excited about them when you are 25 as you did when you were 5. During the fireworks, while I was getting soaked by the rain, I looked around at the thousands of people lining the river, all looking up at the sky and I just had this really happy moment. Here were all these people, all strangers, all leading very different lives, but at the exact same moment we were all looking up at the sky enjoying the very same thing. And that is why I love fireworks. They bring people together. And also they're pretty.
And now... pictures.
I love Chuckie's logic! Makes perfect sense to me!
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