NY Trip (Day 2--July 3, 2009)

Our second day in New York was the Fourth of July, and we spent it in Steve's hometown, Port Jefferson. It is a charming, picturesque little village on the north shore of Long Island. It is so adorable; right on the water, full of cute little shops. Even the chain stores are built to fit in with the seaside-resort-town feel.

To celebrate, we set up camp downtown to watch the big parade. And by big, I mean two hours of police bands (complete with kilts and bagpipes), a million fire trucks, a plethora of old cars, and of course, local politicians. (They're drawn to small town parades like a fish to water!) Oh, and there was candy. What's a parade without candy? Honestly, it was an amazing parade! It was extremely patriotic--all of the police officers and fire fighters really made me proud to live in the United States! And since most of them had some sort of tribute to the men who lost their lives on 9/11, I got a little emotional at times.

After the parade, we went for a swim at a friend of Steve's sister's Rebekah's house and had a yummy Fourth of July cookout. That night we watched the fireworks from a house high up on a cliff. It was freezing but beautiful!