We packed an awesome picnic and found a great spot to eat, chill and watch the fireworks. We got a perfect spot on a pier at about 70th street. Lots of good food, good company, perfect weather, relaxation, surprisingly not too crowded, and a spectacular fireworks display to top it all off. It was a ton of fun.

I was surprised there weren’t more organized events happening in the city for the Fourth. In Provo there are a ton of things happening July 4th with Freedom Festival. It made me a little sad to know all the traditional things our families were doing together all day: wake up early for the hot air balloon festival, watch the parade, go to breakfast, set out blankets to save a perfect spot by the Marriott Center to watch the fireworks from Stadium of Fire, have a BBQ, light fireworks, get KFC. Here in NY, there didn’t seem to be a ton going on besides the fireworks in the evening. And the thought of people in NYC trying to save a spot by leaving a blanket on the grass is laughable. Guaranteed, your blanket would be long gone within a couple hours. It is such a different mentality here in so many ways. It was still a wonderful holiday and it was cool to spend it somewhere so different but still feel proud to be an American.