Macy's Fireworks - NYC
I ended up going to the park at the end of Grand St. In Williamsburg. Thought I was so smart. Brought one of my moving blankets so we could stake out a spot. The place filled up, and then, once the show started, we realized we had our view obstructed by a giant tree. About 500 other people also realized this and a great exodus begun to break through the wall of factories and power plants to the East River... to the light.
We ended up a few blocks north looking through a chain-link fence, surrounded by Puerto Ricans, Indonesians, Polish, Chinese, hipsters, African Americans.... I quickly remembered that fireworks are always fireworks... really not that impressive. But, the ethno-melting pot factor of the couple thousand people wandering the streets around me did actually make me feel patriotic, which is a feeling that rarely rises to the surface these days.
It was actually pretty cool, like a Dead show, but I wasn't on acid.