Ah yes, Washington D.C. July 4th shenanigans. Every year I try to make an adventure out of July 4th. An adventure in the sense of finding a new spot somewhere in D.C. to see the fireworks and grab some photos/a new experience. In doing this, every year I almost always come out of it with a story it seems. Two years ago, I found a spot over next to the Pentagon where I had my camera case searched by the Pentagon Police (that was fun). Which, I understand that entirely… but it was a little unnerving at first I gotta say.

This year wasn’t as eventful but still had some fun in the process. We eventually found a spot along the highway, there were a couple hundred cars at least lined along this road so obviously I’m going to pull in and use it as a spot to start from. I wanted to be a little closer to the water along the Mount Vernon cycling path but hey, it was a start.

After backing myself up this little hill to get out of the street and having to go back to the car about 4 times we started to make our way to where I wanted to ultimately be. Turns out those 4 trips back to the car were fantastic because as we walked passed a policeman on a motorcycle, he was yelling that they were going to tow and clear out all of the cars within the next few minutes.

I stopped and talked about it with my wife, discussing whether we would continue to walk, and or trying to think what end they would start at and if our car would be safe, haha! We ultimately decided to go back because how shitty would that have been, to have our car towed. I thought about just staying with the car but the spot was less than exciting for a view of the fireworks so we began the search for a new spot again.

I actually decided to drive over into Pentagon City because I thought I could get a good visual from that area. Turns out we found a fairly empty parking lot (which filled up quickly after we arrived) and we found an awesome spot right next to the interstate. Part of the fun was watching drivers trying to stop on the sides of the road until a VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation) vehicle ran them off over and over again.

Eventually the VDOT vehicle got blocked in and it was useless to try and stop them from parking there. There were cars EVERYwhere by the time the show started. It was honestly insane how much traffic backed up just before the show and the amount of people just stopping in the middle of the road and trying to fit into a spot.

All in all, it was another successful year watching the fireworks. Nothing got searched, we got some stories. As well as getting to meet and talk with some people that were there excited to watch and honestly that’s another part I like about doing this every year. So anyway, here are some of my favorite photos from the night.

One more thing I’d like to add and that is, if you’ve never came for the Washington, D.C. July 4th celebrations, you should. Now I’ve never spent the entire day there because I live close enough to just drive over for the fireworks. BUT, you’ve got to at least attend the fireworks because it is awesome.

I hope you enjoy and don’t forget to follow M81 on all the social media outlets!