Blue skies over Washington, D.C. for the 4th? When was the last time that happened? I thought it was federal law that it MUST rain for the 4th. Not so. This year was beautiful, though a tad bit warm. Dan and I had a perfect curbside spot (literally sitting on the curb) across the street from the National Archives for the parade. Of course, the best part of the parade is the military groups, including the fife and drum corps. A close second this year was a bagpipe group playing, I am not making this up, the Marine Corps Hymn (you know, from the halls of Montezuma).
After the parade and a stop at our favorite frozen yogurt spot to cool off, we spent a little time at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. This year they are featuring Mexico and the pan-Asian cultures of the U.S. So it pretty much is like being home in SoCal. But to keep the theme going we had dinner at a very good Mexican restaurant right in the neighborhood, Rosa Mexicana. See? You can get good Mexican food east of the Mississippi!Instead of fighting the crowds on the Mall we decided to go to the roof party at our building for the fireworks and that was a great decision.
You can see the Washington Monument on the left and the tower in the center is the Old Post Office Building. After the main fireworks were over we walked to the other side of the roof - the Capital side - and watched at least 20 other displays on the horizon. There are a LOT of fireworks in the DC area! Very, very cool.
