Fireworks

Thanks to some skillful driving by Bill and Emily, we made excellent time on our trip home from Maine: we left Bar Harbor at 8:30 a.m. and for most of the day our ETA was 8:30-something p.m. We originally chose to travel today because it was both a Monday and a holiday, factors we were hoping would keep traffic manageable on the notoriously congested northeast corridor. 

And as road trips go, it was a fun one: replete with the Sunday NY Times crossword and an assortment of 70s singer-song writers, the Beatles, and several Song Exploder episodes. We made a few stops along the way for snacks and relief, and as we approached Baltimore, the map app was predicting a 9:15 arrival. I was at the wheel, and it was only then that I considered that our route would take us right by the 4th of July fireworks display on the National Mall. 

And indeed, the nearer we got to the city, the more unofficial fireworks we saw in the darkening summer sky. Emily suggested detouring to the Beltway, but based on his regular commute back and forth from Baltimore, Bill thought that our route would be okay. As the driver, it was my decision, and personally? I just kind of wanted to see what was going on down there, so I passed the exit to 495 and kept on going into the city. 

The fireworks all around us were very distracting, but it was kind of cool driving through them. In the distance, we could see the National 4th celebration getting started, and the traffic slowed as the fireworks intensified. We were a bit dismayed to find our exit closed, and we crawled on to the next one until we realized that the right lane was blocked by cars that had intentionally stopped to watch the show and changed lanes. 

The finale lit up the sky ahead of us as we rolled down next exit ramp, and the streets were nearly deserted. We easily made our way past the stadium and on to 395, also very empty. It was then that we realized that we were among the first cars to be allowed on the freeway after the police opened it following the fireworks. From there we zipped home, noting all the boats and barges dotting the Potomac and all decked out in their red, white, and blue. 

We pulled into Bill and Emily's house just 10 minutes behind our scheduled time, and although we were all tired and even a little cranky about the inconvenience, I couldn't help feeling a little thrilled about being witness to such pageantry and its inevitable effects.