After our hot day of much walking yesterday, I was exhausted this morning as I got up and made breakfast for Tessa and Bob. They had to leave early, to get to upstate New York in time for 4th July fun tonight, and we were sad to see them go - it's been a really nice visit.
I was good for nothing, so we basically spent all day watching 'The West Wing'. Anne and Alison are both out of town, so it's not like we had the option to do fun 4th July things with someone to whom it actually means something. We're heavily into (the penultimate) series 6 of 'The West Wing' now and I heart Jimmy Smits as Matt Santos. It's really weird to be watching the storyline that was based on Obama (FACT. Though it was written like, 3 years ago) with Obama running such a similar campaign now.
We found out that Jimmy 'swoon' Smits was compeering the 4th July celebrations on the Mall this evening, but everyone says it gets really crazy busy down there, with masses of crowds and it's a nightmare to get back on the metro afterwards, so we decided to go to a roof terrace party thrown by one of Max's colleagues, just around the corner.
When we emerged from our 'West Wing' cocoon, we discovered that nearly everywhere - including most restaurants - was closed, like on the last public holiday here (Memorial Day). It had also been raining heavily, so we weren't even sure whether the fireworks were going to happen.
We had dinner at Madam's Organ (in Adams Morgan. Geddit?) because Max was jonesing for some soulfood, which he thought was sufficiently American-ish for such an occasion.
The air was really weird and moist - not humid, just heavy with moisture - when we came out of the restaurant and there was thick cloud cover in the sky. I wasn't much in the mood for a party, but there was a great view from Max's colleague's roof terrace and it was nice to see Ailsa from the Bureau, as well as meet a few new people.
We had to watch the fireworks from underneath umbrellas, as it kept raining, and I swear they weren't a patch on the Bonfire Night fireworks at Ravenscourt Park. But I took my tripod along so enjoyed taking photos of the display. My lack of patriotic party mood wasn't much helped by the distinctly unamerican-ish Turkish pop music that Max's (Bulgarian) colleague played throughout the fireworks.
We hung around for a little bit after the fireworks, then headed back to the apartment for some more West Wing. It was like walking through London in the 19th century, as the combination of the thick cloud trapping the firework smoke and the massive amount of moisture in the air created a thick fog everywhere - it was a real pea souper. In fact, as we left the roof terrace, we were surprised to see the Capitol building had disappeared, having had a great view of it before the fog rolled in.
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