A Tale of Two Fourths (or one half?)

Monday was my first Fourth of July in Washington, DC. We went downtown in the evening in order to watch the fireworks from the roof of my office building. In all, it was a pretty spectacular display, though it was shorter than I expected. I mean, Disneyland has a fireworks show like that every night.

For the two years prior to this, we spent the 4th in Moses Lake, WA and watched the fireworks show there. The following is a comparison of the two.


Setting
Washington: We watched the fireworks from the roof of my 12-story building. We had a panoramic view of the mall, including the Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Washington Monument. Plus, there was a constant stream of aircraft flying into Reagan Airport across the river, which made for an interesting juxtaposition with the fireworks.

Moses Lake: We watched the fireworks from a park “downtown” and sat at the edge of the lake. In the distance, we could see several houses on the other side of the lake, and if we stood up, I think we could see the Safeway.

Advantage: Washington


Pre-fireworks Action
Washington: A concert featuring Gloria Estefan, The Beach Boys, and Kimberly Locke, 500,000 people milling around, and trash everywhere.

Moses Lake: Nothing.

Advantage: Moses Lake (no Gloria Estefan)


Quality of Fireworks
Washington: A good 20 minutes of high-flying, loud, colorful fireworks with a few smiley face fireworks thrown in for good measure.

Moses Lake: About 10 minutes of decent fireworks, though many didn’t go off as planned and some of the private fireworks were better.

Advantage: Washington (by a lot)


Post-fireworks action
Washington: Nothing much, really. Just lots and lots of pedestrians (mainly tourists) wandering around looking lost. And only two arrests for minor charges? Only two? C’mon people, we can do better than that!

Moses Lake: Several raging brushfires caused by malfunctioning fireworks.

Advantage: Moses Lake, definitely.


Intangibles
Washington: Nation’s Capital, lots of restaurants, a great subway system, people are unfriendly, too many clueless tourists.

Moses Lake: Moses Lake sucks.

Winner: WASHINGTON!!!