popular thinking

My colleague Heather wrote a story today that noted how AOL somehow seemed to bypass Boston on its "Top 11 Booms With a View" survey of Fourth of July fireworks across the nation. It's quite an oversight, to say the least. The Boston Pops concert and fireworks spectacular gets national primetime TV exposure (check your local CBS listings for the broadcast time in your area). That should count for something, shouldn't it? Sitting along the banks of the Charles River, listening to a traditionally famous orchestra, watching fireworks with hundreds of thousands of others who travel from far and wide.

But I think AOL missed another unique Fourth of July opportunity that's unparalleled.

It's located 500 feet or so above the Earth, so to speak, in Seattle's Space Needle. From there, you can see not one, but two major Fourth of July fireworks displays -- one over Lake Union, the other over Elliott Bay (and in the distance, several other smaller fireworks going off in all directions!). Sure, it'll cost you. But I still remember what it was like on July 4, 1998. That was my last day working as an elevator operator at the Space Needle. I had already begun my new entertainment reporting gig over in Bremerton a couple of weeks prior, but stayed on with the Space Needle specifically so I could work the holiday. Working holidays or Saturday nights there always provided extra entertainment, even if I was the one supposed to be entertaining visitors, since wedding receptions and other private parties enlivened the historic landmark. On that Fourth of July, after hauling everyone up to the observation deck, another employee and I had an elevator to ourselves. We could ride up and down, pausing every so often, just to stand and watch as grand explosions of light seemingly surrounded us. Without musical accompaniment for either fireworks display, the silence added to the beauty of the moment. I have witnessed Fourth of July fireworks in small towns (Twin Falls, Idaho), medium-sized cities (Hartford, Tulsa and Tempe) and the largest metropolitan areas (New York City and Boston). But nowhere have I enjoyed it more than in Seattle.