Fourth of July in Sweet Home...

My family and I celebrated Uncle Sam's birthday on July 3rd at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois. We spent the afternoon gorging ourselves at the Taste of Chicago and then threw a blanket on the grass along Lake Shore Drive right in front of Buckingham Fountain. Seated with a sea of an estimated 1 million spectators, we relaxed and enjoyed the show, and only one (1) person was carted off in an ambulance this year (that we witnessed)! Not bad considering last years mayhem...

A snapshot we took of the fireworks 2009

Last year we reclined inside of Butler Field in front of the Petrillo Music Shell to watch the fireworks show. Just as the grand finale kicked into full gear, a massive crowd started running along the fence line. I was able to catch the following image of the runners...


Marathon Chicago Style, "everyone run there's a gun!"

Okay... let's not be harsh. I'm not a photographer! We didn't even know why they were running until the news reported the disturbance during our drive home. Turns out there was a gunfight, and everyone fled. The point here is even though C.P.D. was in riot gear with helicopters, spotlights, watch towers, and perimeter fencing after this past incident...we still had a good time.

The annoying glowing stripes are part of the barrier erected at this years event.

Giant Turkey Legs smothered in BBQ sauce, Jerk Chicken and Rice, Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, Catfish Nuggets, Over-Priced Soda, Sweaty Crowds of Fat Gnarly People, then on to a Littered Over-Crowded Park, full of those same Sweaty Fat Gnarly People...who are now too Over-Stuffed, and hopped up on Ant-Acids to move from the craters they're forcing into the grass, Cops marching like Storm Troopers with massive explosions blazoned across the sky. I love my Chicago!

[DISCLAIMER: SC IS ONLY JOKING ABOUT THE SWEATY FAT GNARLY PEOPLE ATTENDING THE FESTIVITIES. HE WOULD NEVER THINK TO PRINT SOMETHING OFFENSIVE OR DEROGATORY ABOUT ANYONE. EVERYONE WAS BEAUTIFUL, DRY, AND THEY HAD PERFECT BODIES. IT WAS THE INSUFFICIENT LIGHTING FROM THE SUN THAT CAUSED THERE PERFECTLY CHISELED PHYSIQUES TO DISTORT AND SLOTH IN APPEARANCE AND THE MOISTURE IN THE AIR COLLECTED ON THE SHIRTS ALONG THE CHEST AREA AND UNDER THEIR ARM PITS...MAKING IT APPEAR AS IF THEY WERE SWEATING NIAGRA FALLS AND IT WAS THE CITY SEWER STINKING AND NOT THEM, OH NO... EVERYBODY WAS A F----N RUNWAY MODEL!]