The 4th of July is a special time in Boston. The city takes its position as the birthplace of the revolution very seriously, with probably the most over-the-top celebration in the whole nation. For Meg and I, this year was our first 4th of July in Boston, and it was quite an experience. After a long day of BBQ and volleyball, we made our way down to the river (not far from our house, actually) where hundreds of thousands of people were staking out their positions along both banks of the river (Boston and Cambridge).
The official hub of the action was the 'Hatch Shell,' an outdoor theater along the river in downtown Boston. People camped out for hours (i.e. from sunrise to sunset) to get good seats. The action started around 7 pm with a couple of hours of music and performance from the Boston Pops and various special guests.
[The Hatch Shell, with outdoor confetti!]
When darkness falls, the real action begins. First, Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture is accompanied by cannon fire.Then Boston lights up with fireworks.
Some fireworks are shot from the Hatch Shell, but most of the damage is done from a barge in the middle of the Charles river. We fortuitously happened to camp out right in front of the barge. The picture below is taken approximately from the location of the Hatch Shell and shows the barge (I have added an arrow denoting our location on the Cambridge side.) Further back you can see blue fireworks being shot off of a bridge spanning the river. And even further back, though you can't see it here, fireworks are going off at Fenway Park. Boston truly gets lit up!
Also in July
Meg decided to take the two of us on a whale watch in July. This was a remarkable act, because Meg is deathly afraid of whales, as she is of all underwater creatures. But she conquered her fear, and had a lot of fun on the whale watch. This is the whale we saw- a Humpback named Nile. She was feeding near the surface that day so we were treated to a number of appearances from her.
Meg was scared and fascinated and excited, and she looked like a little kid out there. Indeed, it was almost as much fun to watch her as it was to watch the whale. I'll close with a picture of us setting out from Boston Harbor. The sense of apprehension/excitement/dread on her face is almost palpable, isn't it?
