How did you spend July 4th this year?

As I hear from online friends all over the country about their July 4th experiences - about going on picnics, and taking the kids to a hilltop to watch fireworks, and burning their fingers on barbecued ribs - I think about how different mine was.

It's not that you can't have picnics in New York.  Of course you can, and many do. I talked with someone who was planning to meet friends for a picnic in Central Park.  She was fretting over the fact that her friends were strict vegans - would they eat macaroni?

But you're not supposed to barbecue in Manhattan - there are laws about outdoor grilling.  And the Macy's fireworks show is fantastic, but you've got to be young and enthusiastic to face the crowds on the subways afterwards.

So what did we do for July 4th?

Day 1 – Saturday.  New York is full of surprises.  We had a late lunch at the Bohemian Hall Beer Garden (Czech) in Astoria, Queens, followed by a quick trip to a Greek grocery store for frozen tyropita (little cheese pies - yum).  Walking around the very Greek neighborhood of Astoria, we noticed a number of Indian-looking families with the women dressed in their finery – even saris, which you rarely see nowadays.

We were headed for the bus to go back to Manhattan, when we heard Indian-style music broadcast loudly from a park nearby.  We made a small detour to explore (we do that a lot!) and found ourselves in what turned out to be a Bangladesh festival.  I took photos – see the gallery at right.  So much color!  Glorious fabrics and jewelry, the women dressed in everything from saris to jeans and tunics.  Small children wearing child-sized beaded tunics.  Some women with Muslim headscarves, mostly in muted but beautiful colors.

Food stalls that smelled wonderful – too bad we’d just eaten a big lunch! I barely escaped without buying a sari for $50 – I know I could do something with that gorgeous fabric.  Steve said, “What will you do with it – hang it next to the kimono on your foyer wall?”  “I know, but it’s so beautiful!"

"Excuse me, do you know where...?" "...the big art store is in this neighborhood?" "Sure.  Look down Canal Street.  See the big red and white sign on the big red and white building?  That's Pearl Paint." Nestled among the video stores and the audio equipment stores is Pearl Paint, a humungous (six floors, plus two other stores in the street behind) art supplies store.  If it's related to painting, sculpture, crafts, or, in my case, calligraphy, you can buy it here.  I love this store!

Day 2 - Sunday.  We planned to go to the Chinatown Independence Day parade - lion dances, costumes, lots of fun.  But we got a late start and missed it.  There are some photos here of the aftermath - see for yourself!  We strolled around for a while, ate some dumplings at Fried Dumpling (best dumplings in town, and incredibly cheap), had a Tsing Tao beer at a Chinatown bar (ah - air-conditioning!) where the bar cat sits in the doorway and greets customers, then walked up through Little Italy.  I resisted the gelato, but succumbed to the nougat - the guy chops it up with a huge cleaver, somehow it tastes better that way.  Then we headed over to Croxley Ales, a semi-beergarden in Alphabet City, for clams and cider.

Day 3 - July 4th.  We went down to the big street fair in lower Manhattan. It starts at Battery Park, and crosses the Financial District, including Wall Street, and ends at the South Street Seaport.  This year we skipped the big open-air concert in Battery Park - it draws enormous crowds. We headed for our "traditional" post-street fair lunch pub, only to find it was closed for a private party.  Best-laid plans and all that. It happens all the time in this city - you always need a backup plan! 

So we went to a movie instead.  "War of the Worlds" - not bad, but not as good as we wanted it to be. We had dinner in our neighborhood Italian restaurant - our friendly waiter was looking a little harried.  Apparently everybody showed up at once, and left just in time to go watch the fireworks.  As did we - we watched them on TV in our local dive bar, but this year it wasn't much fun.  Too many people yelling over that annoying patriotic music! 

So that was our July 4th weekend.  Czech food, a Bangladesh festival, (almost) a Chinatown parade, English ale, and Italian food.  That’s New York!