Prior to the Fourth of July every year, I decorate the inside and outside of the house in festive décor. As a military family, the Fourth of July is one of our favorites to celebrate. We all dress up in our red, white and blue apparel and usually spend the day BBQing and celebrating with friends. We listen to our custom, Americana playlist, play cornhole and set up fun activities for the kids.
We have a few traditional recipes that we make every year on Independence Day. My son’s favorite to make is our Flag Fruit Pizza and Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Eggs. We also make a festive drink like Dirty Shirleys. For the kids we set up a dessert bar filled with Fourth of July treats.
Fireworks at Washburn Field
I have two sets of memories about celebrating Indepence Day. The first one is when I was under 10. We used to go to Washburn Field at Colorado College as a family to enjoy the fireworks show. It was an easy trip as we lived in the Old North End on Alamo Avenue.
We loaded into the car, drove to the field, and planted ourselves in the bleachers. The single most vivid memory I have is the “landscape fireworks” that were set off at the south end of the field. They depicted nature scenes through the artful use of fireworks.
From what I remember now, those early displays were unique. My favorite was the flag of the United States, which as a young child I was impressed because it was huge.
Bottle Rockets at Home
The second memory was staying home to do our own displays. First, we had to go to the fireworks stand on 8th Street. It was always a surprise to see what choices we had. When the sky got dark enough on the Fourth, we were able to start our own display at home.
At first, I was totally supervised by my dad. We started on the concrete by the garage door in the back of the house. That lasted only once as a fountain firework turned on its side and scarred the concrete with a large black mark. Mom was not pleased and said, “No more.”
We then moved to the front yard, which was more fun. We had to take precautions because of the lawn and trees. We had to get a metal bucket and fill it with a little water. Next, we got a 4×8 piece of plywood to place on the grass for the fountain fireworks. Finally, we had to have a hose out by the plywood for any unforeseen issues. It sounds like a lot of work, but it was a blast. Last we had to “police” the neighborhood and pick-up all the pop bottle rockets in our yards, the neighbors’ yards and the street. I would do it again in an instant.
Biking through the Bavarian Alps
My husband and I were both active duty and my husband deployed or was in the field every Independence Day. I would make holiday plans and they always changed at the last minute.
One year I decided to make plans with a girlfriend to vacation in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. If you have never been to this part of Germany, you are missing out. It is one of our favorite spots to vacation. But that Fourth of July, the plan was to ride our bikes most of the weekend and get in some exercise along with the BBQs and fireworks.
First day we set out with our bikes via a gondola ride to the top of the Zugspitze in the Bavarian Alps. We rode 20 miles down the mountain, stopping along the way for lunch and a beer. Should have stopped at one beer but we were on vacation and the location was beautiful.
We ended up in Mittenwald, Germany. Yes, we took a wrong turn somewhere, and participated in their 650+ birthday celebration with more beer and brats. At some point we debated about taking the train back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen but decided we could ride our bikes the rest of the way, just another 10 miles.
It was a ride of a lifetime, and I will never forget that Independence Day. It was also the only ride that weekend – we may have done too much on the first day.
Tumbling along the parade route
I was a gymnast growing up and it was a given each Independence Day that our gymnastic club would be a participant in the parade. We would tumble our way down the two-mile route entertaining 75,000 to 100,000 people lining the streets of my hometown. My most memorable was the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976.
Around 11 a.m., donned with at least 20 pairs of “footies” (which are now called “no show socks”). I met my fellow teammates at our float. We put on three to four pairs to begin the parade to protect our feet from the pavement.
The day was bright, sunny and humid, which is usual in the Midwest in July. It was not an exceedingly hot day, as the predicted high was in the mid-80s. What my teammates and I failed to take in to account this particular year were the Bicentennial celebration preparations, which included newly paved, black-topped streets.
The parade began at 1 p.m. and we waited for our turn to begin the two-mile trek. By the time we were a quarter of the way through the route, the newly paved streets had turned into a sticky strip of tar. This unexpected conundrum necessitated we did nothing but ariel (no hands) tumbling.
We anticipated going through 15 to 20 pairs of socks due to the wearing out of cotton fibers against the pavement, but the tar added a whole new dimension to the rate of disintegration. By the time we reached the one-mile mark of the parade route in the middle of the afternoon, we had gone through most of our socks. We shouted to our parents who were following our float to make an emergency run for more socks.
Being a holiday back in the middle ‘70s there wasn’t a Walmart around the corner to purchase such a specific item. So, in what was supposed to be a little showing off for our gymnastic club and yes, a marketing ploy, we all ended up riding on the float with no candy to throw for the remaining mile. Quite an embarrassment for all of us, our coach and our parents.
Happy Independence Day!
However, you and your family are celebrating the holiday, from our team to yours, please be safe and enjoy the memories and traditions that make America the best country in the world.
