Boston Independence Day!

It's no secret that I have a love-hate relationship with Boston: when it comes to restaurants, the gym, and walking around Boston Common or the harbor front, it's love. When I'm trying to get to any of these places...it's hate. But last night, I felt nothing but love for my city as they put on what is without doubt the best Fourth of July celebration in the country. And of course it has to be--because this is where it all began, and it's impossible to live here without being reminded of that: the site of the Boston Massacre, the plaque that commemorates the Tea Party, Paul Revere's House, and the Bunker Hill monument are just some of the many monuments to our city's historic past. In fact, Eric and I live within walking distance of the home of two presidents (John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams) and my apartment is a mere five hundred feet from their final resting place. Every night when I go to sleep, I think of the two presidents and their wives sleeping so close by and think, "Wow, I am sleeping within spitting distance of Abigail Adams!"

But I digress! Every year, the city of Boston puts on a free concert with the Boston Pops, a special guest, and a spectacular fireworks show. About a million people crowd the esplanade, the area right by the Charles River, to hear the concert, and some camp out over night just to get good spots on the lawn! But instead of having to sit in the sun all day waiting for the concert to begin, Eric and I had the unique opportunity of getting to watch the spectacle from the rooftop of the Museum of Science. Members of the museum were invited to the event, which was alcohol-free and very kid friendly (there were lots of little science activities for the kids as well as face painters and balloon makers--it was pretty great!)



View from the roof of the Museum of Science before the sun set; we watched the Pops concert on that big screen!



Beautiful sunset on the roof! We could see all the way to the horizon!

Most people brought lawn chairs and you could bring your own picnic. We wound up eating dinner at the Kinsale, one of our favorite Boston pubs, where we had fish and chips in honor of our nation's past (because I burned the baked beans we were going to have for a picnic!). We arrived on the rooftop at 7, spread out our blanket, and read a book together out loud while waiting for the show to begin.



Eric and I with our homemade smores!

The Pops started around 8:30, and they played the 1812 Overture and American folk songs. Because we were so high up, we could see fireworks erupting from all different parts of the city--from Charlestown and the North End to out in Newton. Midway through the concert, special guest Toby Keith appeared, which made me want to don cowboy boots and a hat and dance. I was bopping and singing along and poor Eric was cringing, having had the bad luck of encountering the one country music star he fervently dislikes!



Poor Eric!

At 10, the fireworks began, and all the children who had patiently sat through the concert were squealing in excitement. The show lasted about 25 minutes and was incredibly gorgeous--lots of those white shimmery fireworks that I love!



This picture doesn't really do justice to the fireworks, but it's the only one that came out! Kinda looks like a solar system with planets orbiting, though, doesn't it?

The best part: getting home. Yes. Can you believe I just said that? Getting home. I, who do nothing but complain about the Boston transportation system--so much so that I have the customer service number preprogrammed into my phone!--was amazed at how easy it was to get back to Quincy! The MBTA let people ride the T for free all night. Because we were at the Museum of Science and not with the other million folks at the esplanade, we walked a block to the green line, got right on and then transferred and got on the first train to Quincy (which came in about after 10 minutes at Park Street). The crowds at Park Street were pretty bad, but there was a lot of crowd control, and they kept the trains from getting too packed, which was great! We were home in about 40 minutes, having experienced not a single delay or breakdown, leaving me with the burning question: "If they can do this so efficiently tonight, why doesn't it always run like this?"

But oh well. I guess we need room for our nation to grow. Wouldn't want to peak too soon, right?