The 4th July (or Independence Day) is iconic to Americans. It was on that day in 1776 that 12 of the 13 colonies (apparently New York abstained) voted on the Declaration of Independence, which had been written by Thomas Jefferson and accepted. The signed copy (at that stage signed only by one person, John Hancock) was released to the printers and secretly passed out to the public.

Today they remember this occasion by getting together with friends and family to celebrate their independence, having a bit of a BBQ and watching some fireworks.

Who are we to pass up an opportunity for a party, so like they say - when in Rome......

Washington DC apparently has one of the best (if not the best) fire works display in the country. I guess it's only fair given that it is the capital. So we joined in with our friend Nikki and her close friends to help them celebrate this national day. First stop was the BBQ. Nikki brought the food and used our BBQ (or grill as they like to call them here), we just provided the house.

You have to give the Americans credit for one thing, they certainly know how to cook a good steak. Everyone seems to have their own secret seasoning or marinade that just seems to make a good piece of steak, taste even better.

After that we headed in towards DC to find a good vantage point to see the fireworks. There was no way we were actually going to get into the Mall area of DC, the crowds there are apparently ridiculously large. Instead we found a spot on the side of the road near the Pentagon, which allowed us a perfect view. People were using any spot they could find that allowed them a good view of the fireworks. Our friends Gerry and Kim ended up watching the fireworks from the platform of the airport metro station.

We must admit, the fireworks were pretty good. They went for at least 30min and all through the event the planes just kept landing at the National Airport. Thankfully none of the fireworks went in the wrong direction.

The traffic getting home was typical DC traffic......extremely heavy, but I guess we're slowly starting to get use to it.

Apparently 4th July celebrations in Chicago includes a fireworks display and a rendition of the 1812 Overture by one of the city's orchestras. Maybe we could look at going there next year.