We Love Long Weekends – Jul 3 – 6

Don: Ah, 4th of July weekend. Which for me means one of those exciting 6 lone holiday days I get since I left the public sector. I will be savoring it by eating some half smokes off my grill from Red Apron and doing [redacted]-all for the totality of the day. We’ll be experiencing the fireworks the way that has become our tradition – watching the New York display on tv. I miss the DC display, but I no longer can walk to a non-crazed (go to the crowdtacular mall? hahahahahahahahah no thanks, waiting in line for portapots is more patriotism than i can manage) location and watch the Capitol display with my own eyes. Since the alternative is WETA’s Explosive Racism Spectacular I’ll just swallow my hatred of NYC for an hour.

Rachel: The 4th of July falls on a Friday this year which means HELLO LONG WEEKEND! Looking forward to that. I’m also looking forward to the Cubs being in town for a weekend series against the Nationals. As some of you may or may not know, I hail from Chicago originally so this is one of my favorite events of the baseball season in D.C. The last time the Cubs were in town on the 4th, it was 2007…if memory serves me right. That game was at RFK Stadium. Dimitri Young hit a grand slam in that game, Matt Chico pitched, and the Nats beat Chicago 6-0. This Nats team has changed quite a bit since that summer, so I look forward to seeing how this series pans out.

Fedward: Last year we had just closed on our house and had to spend the 4th weekend packing, but we took the time to head to the roof of our apartment building for one last blast of Petworth/Park View neighborhood fireworks at eye level.  This year is the first we’ll actually be spending in the house, but having lived in the neighborhood for four previous 4ths we already know what to expect from the neighbors (which actually started a couple weeks ago).  We weren’t really planning to leave the house, much less the neighborhood, but we’ve been offered a pair of tickets to Friday’s Nats game so we might actually get out for that.  We might also walk over to the Petworth-adjacent Soldiers’ Home for their annual celebration. Saturday afternoon we’ll head up to the AFI Silver for Lawrence of Arabia (related: the whole Alec Guinness Centennial looks awesome). On the live theatre docket: Side Show at the Kennedy Center and Private Lives at STC’s Lansburgh. We’ll round the weekend off with brunch at the Passenger, because that’s what we do.

Tom: Independence Day is always my favorite holiday of the year. Some people love Christmas, or Easter or Flag Day or Armistice Day, but me, I’m an Independence Day guy. I’ll be making ice cream first thing in the morning with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and some local fruits, probably cherries, before plotting the rest of the weekend’s adventures. I may go for the reading of the Declaration of Independence, I may opt for a more personal expression and go for a bike ride, but overall, I will celebrate the brave that passed before us and declared this one nation, indivisible.

Mosley: Ah, the Fourth. Like Tom, it’s one of my favorite, favorite days out of the year.  And with a three day weekend, I’ll actually be able to get out for it too!  On the 5th I’m definitely going to the AFI but for decided lower brow entertainment: they’re starting there Totally Awesome ’80s movie schedule and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is playing.  Call me what you will, but I prefer to think of myself as a kid at heart.  Other than that, I’m hoping to get out on the Anacostia for some kayaking, weather be damned.  I try to do it at least once a summer, and the weekend of the 4th is a great excuse to do it.  I launch out of Bladensburg Waterfront Park and paddle all the way down to RFK; it’s amazing.

Jenn: It wouldn’t be the Fourth of July without a stroll to Bloomingdale to watch the incredible 360-degree view of fireworks viewable from a dear friend’s roofdeck. There’s just nothing like watching the city’s celebration unfold, from the official explosions to the crazy neighborhood displays. I love fireworks, plain and simple, they bring out the little kid full of wonder. I’ll probably also squeeze in a viewing of that old chestnut 1776, a musical my brother and I used to quote at each other as we danced around the backyard waving sparklers. Speaking of movies, Fedward reminds me that AFI is celebrating the centennial of one of my all-time favorite actors, Sir Alec Guinness, with a retrospective starting this weekend and running the next few months. There’s a treasure trove of performances to catch! This weekend it’s Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and Lawrence of Arabia (oh definitely, if you haven’t seen Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen in glorious 70mm, get yourself to AFI Friday or Saturday!). And I’ll also be celebrating democracy by participating in dog & pony dc’s rehearsal of their immersive town hall meeting, Beertown, before they head up to NYC to perform for the Lincoln Center Directors Lab next week (go DC theater pride!). A nice, relaxing weekend with a side of culture. My favorite.

Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.

Hmm, guess I just did.

My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.

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