Fourth of July Festivities 2015

Good Morning,

Are you all recovering nicely from the holiday weekend? I'm sure Monday was rough but at this rate you are already half way through the week basically!

Although we had a pretty low key 4th of July I thought I would stop by and share what we did do because I thought it was worth a mention. Besides although obviously not all posts but some posts I write I think will be great to look back on later and see pictures and read about the things we have done and where. If you know me at all you know my memory is crap so I need all the help I can get!!

Jason worked on Saturday which pretty much sucked, although I am use to him working all the time it always seems to bug me just a little bit more on a holiday. Having said that it really is the norm so we just roll with it and make the best of the time we do have. Jason had intended to only work until noon but that ended up turning into 3:00pm so by the time he got back here and showered and we got out the door it was a little later than we had expected!

We had considered booking a late night dinner cruise in Manhattan to have the option of watching Fireworks from the boat which would have been amazing but I wasn't keen on paying the large price tag, especially when Jason's work schedule is so unreliable! We considered going into the city to watch fireworks but sadly with the terror threats they were being extremely strict in the city and I worried that with Jason working late and them putting a limit on the amount of people allowed in certain areas (the best areas to see the fireworks) we wouldn't get there in time to actually get a decent spot.

In the end we decided to go to Liberty State Park in New Jersey, they were having a fair with food trucks, carnival rides, games, entertainment and so on! Plus they put on their own huge fireworks display and we figured if we got to the right spot we would be able to see not only the Jersey ones but the ones Macy's was putting on over on the East River as well.

Finding parking and getting into the park was OUTRAGEOUS! I expected it to be bad but not nearly as bad as it ended up being! We managed to get parking at the Liberty Science Center which was pretty ideal and then walked over to the park. By the time we got there we were both starving so we scoped out the food trucks!

Aren't these little rescue vehicles amazing? I thought that was such a great idea!!

Guys, how excited was I to see the Nuncha's food truck there!! I am a sucker for a good empanada and I have had these quite a few times and they are AMAZING! If you happen to come across one of these, the spicy chicken empanada is where its at! 

Jason's converting to a truth southerner and went directly for the Carolina BBQ. Pulled pork sandwich and baked beans! The Pulled pork was on point, the beans were not Carolina Style though.. we were not impressed!

Lady Liberty in all her glory! 

People were legit camped out! There were tents everywhere and people had brought their own charcoal BBQs and what not, I wish we had the whole day and could have had a setup like that, it looked like a really good time! 

Manhattan from Liberty State Park. 

After eating we spent a ton of time just walking around the park and enjoying the beautiful day! They had a TON of food and live entertainment and of course the park is on the water which is always really nice. After touring around for a long time we decided to go back for more food. I just wanted an ice cream because its something we really never have but Jason decided he needed to have a smoked turkey leg. Jason's been talking about smoked turkey legs for quite some time now and even looked at them in the grocery store last time we were home but decided not to get one. After his BBQ we continued walking and when he saw them he absolutely knew he had to get one, but he needed to walk off his first meal. 

Generally smoked turkey legs are just plain but this particular venue offered Buffalo, Bourbon BBQ as well as plain so Jason went with the Bourbon BBQ. 

Jason's shoes are a size 12 and this thing was as book as his foot!! 

That's basically as far as he got, he put a good dent in it. The lady sitting a few feet away from us was eyeing him while he was eating it and eventually her husband went to get them some. When he came back Jason made sure to warn them all that the key to eating one of those things was to pace yourself, he said that he forgot this time. HA! Jason hates to waste food. 

When Jason was done eating we decided to just hang around where we planned to watch the fireworks! It seemed like a really long wait because they didn't start until 9:30pm but really it wasn't, neither Jason or I are overly patient. I will say though it was soooo worth the wait! The fireworks display put on by the park was absolutely AMAZING and we got to see the Macy's display right behind it, it was perfect! Jason absolutely LOVES fireworks and he was beyond impressed and overwhelmed. Liberty State Park actually put on two displays, once on either end of the park so no one missed a thing, and if you were in the right spot you got to see the same show in two places simultaneously! 

This is a crappy picture but you can see the Freedom Tower lit up red, white and blue at the top and to the right you can see part of the Macy's Fireworks display. 

The Macy's fireworks display right in the center, the barges were behind the buildings on the East River but the fireworks went high enough that we got a perfect view. 

Getting out of the parking lot was the worst part of the drive home, mostly because people drive like assholes. If every person let one other person in, it would go so smooth and everyone would get out but instead no one wants to let anyone in and people are honking and so on.. its outrageous! 

The drive home was nice, there were fireworks everywhere which was great! We didn't get home until quite late so it was straight to bed as Jason had to work on Sunday. Although we didn't get to spend the day having a big BBQ and all that jazz I am really happy with what we did do!

I hope you all had an amazing holiday and enjoyed your festivities to the fullest!!