This Fourth we decided to brave the crowds and head to Lake Union to watch the Independence Day fireworks from roof of my mother’s houseboat. Its been several years since we’ve enjoyed the fireworks from the houseboat. In recent years we’ve avoided it because the traffic in and out of the area can take hours and the chaos of fireworks in the neighborhood can be unnerving. However, as we are about to embark the next phase of my sabbatical (a near month long National Park and Western United States road trip), it seemed proper that we’d kick off that phase with a celebration of America before we hit the open road.
We started our day with a little swimming to stay cool and to work up our appetite.
Soon after we moved into the gorging our gullets phase of the holiday tradition. I had made pulled pork and our friend Julie made bacon and onion jam to put on it. Mmmmmmm….so good…
Cumin chipotle pulled pork with bourbon bbq sauce and srirasha sambal ketchup and bacon jam on brioche.
We bided our time with views of the action from the roof. Hordes of humanity covered every inch of Gasworks Park. South Lake Union was bow-to-stern and boat-bumper-to-boat-bumper. Meanwhile, the black smoke of an uncontrolled fire wafting through the neighborhood behind the houseboats (affectionately called “Little Beirut” each 4th) didn’t curtail the ignition of reservation fireworks punctuated by yelps of “‘Merika!” “Whoot!” and “Fuck yeah, dude! That was fuckin’ awesome!” Uh…merica, you are beautiful. Happy Birthday. The fire was apparently a boat storage facility that caught fire. $1.5M in damages.
We enjoyed the sunset and the clearing of the skies just in time for the main event – the Lake Union fireworks. They lit up the skies over Seattle like stars and nebulas.
The experience of being sprinkled by ashes and soot, the smell of sulfer and smoke, the music from Gasworks Park and the views of downtown Seattle makes this a great experience and one we won’t soon forget. Also, the traffic this year was lighter than I remember…perhaps light enough we may do it again next year.
Sabbatikos 
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