Happy Birthday America
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| Times Square. |
When I thought of Independence day I would think of the movie, when earth was invaded by aliens...
but apparently there is another Independence day not involving aliens...
This day is commonly known as the Fourth of July, and it is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It's similar to Australia Day, families and friends spend it together, usually at home having a BBQ or going for lunch and then only the crazy tourists actually venture into the city and want to watch the fireworks.
And I was one of those crazy tourists who thought it would be a great idea to spend the day in Manhattan "while I'm still young" were my exact words. I don't even know what that means, I think I have this internal fear that I'm getting more and more boring as each month passes!
I was ready. Red, white and blue. I had my outfit planned along with my patriotic flag bandana.
Off I set into Manhattan and the weather was holding up. The sun was shinning and the heat was fierce at roughly 30 degrees Celsius (87F). I met my friend M and we decided to 'stroll' through Times square and see if anything was happening. As we were walking a woman stopped me "your hair is beautiful, who does it?". I was a little confused as my hair hasn't been coloured in 3 months and today I had it thrown up in a bun so what was this woman talking about? But I was also kinda chuffed and responded "oh it hasn't been done in a while but thanks!" and I went to keep walking but then out of no where BAM! she pulls out a brochure "I work for a salon on the east side and we are offering a special deal today!", gosh darn I had been tricked! Well played lady, well played. And yes, we kept walking.
From Times square we walked to Bryant park which is on 6th ave right next to the New York public library. The city was very quiet today so it was nice and easy to get a seat. We sat, drinking water, having an ice cream and chatting for a few hours.
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| Bryant park with M and A. |
As I said, the day was hot, really hot but there is nothing to make you realise that you're not on the northern beaches anymore than seeing children swim in a public fountain in the middle of the city. Is that even legal? Is that safe? clean? Well you definitely know you're in Manhattan when you see this happen.
From Bryant park we decided to go to central park. Normally it is in walkable distance 15/20 blocks roughly but in this heat we got the subway. And right at the entrance gates to the park were snow cones!! We walked around and it's of course full of people for Fourth of July and performers everywhere (one of my favourite things of the park).
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| Central Park |
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| Central Park |
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| Central Park |
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| Turtles in the water. |
From the park we walk through the east side and I stumbled across these steps. Instantly thought of Carrie Bradshaw from the Sex and the City show. And of course I had to get a picture.
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| Carrie from the show, Sex and the City. |
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| Me on the steps. |
Wednesday night I got a surprise email from a friend of mine who I went to University with for 4 years in Australia. She emails me and tells me she has just arrived in Manhattan and would be here until July 9! I was so stoked and of course met up with her the very next day (July 4). We decided we would meet at a bar called Lucy' which is a mexican bar/restaurant in midtown, which has a rooftop sitting area and has the best happy hour with $6 margaritas.
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| Beerarita. Corona and margarita mixed together. |
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| A and I with her beerarita. |
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| Mega-nachos (everything is mega in America). |
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| Chillidog. |
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| Suz, me and A. |
By this time the city was really humid and the deeper we got into the crowds, the hotter it got.
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| Hot and sweaty. |
I had never seen so many people all tightly squished into the same space in city streets. There were literally thousands of people in 30 degree heat (87F), at 9pm at night all trying to catch a glimpse of the July 4th fireworks (I'm thinking these better be good!). At this point my feet are really starting to blister from walking all day and I feel like someone has thrown a bucket of hot water over me.
My friend M and I were persistent. We kept pushing (politely) through the crowds, hoping to get just a little further. And all of a sudden a huge opening appeared, it was like people just couldn't be bothered walking any further, luckily we were bothered. All the way to the end we walked and although we were still a bit far back, we would be sure to have a good view.
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| The water ahead. So close |
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| People all the way back. |
Crammed in between thousands of people.... 9 o'clock came and went with no fireworks, it appeared the organisers hadn't factored in day light savings and at 9:30pm the sky was still light. So we stood, waiting, waiting, waiting. I remember thinking, what makes thousands of people stand shoulder to shoulder with strangers in 30 degree heat, dripping in sweat that probably isn't their own, just to see fireworks? Why was I there? I guess because it was an 'opportunity'? Because I'm a tourist? BEcause it's fun? Because that's what you do?
But finally, at roughly 9:45pm the fireworks began
The fireworks lasted 30 minutes. They were really beautiful and I'm glad I saw them... but 30 minutes is a long time and I realised I don't like fireworks THAT much. But I'm definitely glad I braved the crowds of New York for my first July 4th in Manhattan and although I had blistered feet and a lot of pushing to get back out... we made it.
Happy birthday America. Thanks for sharing xx
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