An Awesome Fourth of July

Even though cell phone cameras have come a long way, they still stink for taking nighttime photos of fireworks.

The 'Works, as they were called last night in downtown Raleigh, were awesome.  


Yes, the actual show of fireworks was a bit short, but the real 'Works, the huge street fair the folks that work at the City pulled off, was nothing short of awesome.  It takes a lot of hard work planning those street fairs; there are permits and people to hire, overtime to pay.  And it all seemed to go off without a hitch.  


I had a first rate view to kick things off from the corner of Fayetteville and Davie streets.  Here's my view from our spot:

The big ice cream made it easy for me to find my way back if I got lost.  Which, let's be serious:  there was a beer and wine garden, it was the Fourth of July.  There was potential for me to get lost.

Perhaps the best testament of all the hard work people put in to make yesterday great was the fact that seventy-five THOUSAND of you came out to watch the fireworks, eat from local restaurants, drink beers, eat from the giant ice cream, and more.  All of us in once place, oohing and aahing.  Now, I never lived here when people didn't go downtown, but I hear stories about it all the time--how 15 or 20 years ago, you never would have come to Fayetteville Street for anything.  Yet, last night, there we were, all together, even though it rained like crazy in the afternoon, you all came anyway.  A great night for Raleigh, and a great 236th birthday for the USA. 

I stole this picture from ABC 11.  Gotta give credit where credit is due.

 

 

Alli


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