Happy 4th Memories

In honor of the 4th of July, I am writing about my favorite memories regarding this holiday.

• Growing up my parents always hosted a BBQ on the 4th. We have a pool in our backyard, so everyone came over during the day and went swimming and stayed till the evening to watch the fireworks. I remember one summer; Best Friend Ever and I were chilling in the front yard, sitting on the hood of the cars watching the fireworks. After it was over, we stayed in the front and hollered obscenities at all the cars that drove by and making lewd gestures at them. Our parents had no clue what we were doing, and we thought it was so funny and that we were so cool. I think we were ten.

• The summer I lived at the beach, I had the night off and got to watch the fireworks lying on the beach with my roommates. That was so cool. It was a great night, not too hot or humid, clear sky, and the fireworks exploded over the ocean. So pretty.

• My freshman year of college, BFE, her boyfriend Scott, his friend, and I spent the 4th in DC. Scott’s parents always get a room at a hotel and spend the night in DC during the 4th. During the day, we walked around the National Mall and when it got too hot, we went back to the room and drank and hung out. When it was time to see the fireworks, we picked out a spot, laid out the blanket and waited for night to come. I don’t know what was wrong with the fireworks that night, but the freaking fireworks shited on us all night. The ash and soot from the fireworks kept falling on everyone. By the end of the night we were covered in crap. We went back to my house and went midnight swimming to get all the shit off of us.

• I first started as an intern at Hot 99.5 in the summer of 2002 (I think it was 2002). We used to do promotions at Ocean City, MD. I happened to be spending my 4th of July weekend at the beach with my friends, and said I could work a promotion or two at the beach. I ended up working the promotion at Seacrets, which is this huge outdoor bar and it feels like you’re in the Caribbean. It was so much fun. I got to hang out at a bar all day and drink, and I couldn’t believe that this was my summer internship. Later on that night my friends and I could care less about seeing the fireworks, so we waited until right before the fireworks were about to start and went to Higgins’s Crab Shack and chowed down on some food. We were the only ones in the restaurant, and I bet the staff hated us.

• BFE, our friend Dhrit, and I decided to bike down to DC and hang out in Georgetown during the day on the 4th. The day started off a bit overcast with chance of thunderstorms. It was uber hot and humid, but we decided to take our chances. We pick up the bike trail in Bethesda and make our way south into DC. The skies open up on us, and it starts pouring, and we keep pedaling. The C&O canal is mainly a dirt and pebble trail. So as we’re pedaling, our wheels are just picking up dirt and throwing it back on us. We’re covered in mud, and it looks like we shatted all over ourselves. The rain is just not letting up; its coming down in sheets, but we are so close that we decide to just continue into DC. It finally stops raining once we hit Georgetown, and we are soaked to the bone, with mud all down our backs and legs. We forego hanging out in the city and make the trek back. Mother nature decides to be a prankster and it starts to rain again. It’s probably a good thing we headed back, cause the canal level starts to rise and the trail becomes a bit flooded. We shower, eat, and spend the rest of the day napping and watching movies.