A Capital Citizenne Fourth!
The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Not because I embraced living in the nation's capital and enjoyed all of the spectacular fireworks and concerts, no, rather it's because Winston and I usually boarded a flight to Sanibel for "Betty's Annual 4th of July Party." The house I call home happens to have one of the best views of the Sanibel Island fireworks display, and as a result we have had friends and family over to the house to celebrate Independence Day for as long as I can remember. This year, hopping on a flight to Sanibel simply was not an option, but I was determined to make the most of it. I am not one of those tourists who immediately looks for signs of home, in fact I actually avoid them at all costs (after all, I have chosen to come live in a different culture!). But on the 4th, I wanted Americana, I needed it! Mind you, I wasn't so homesick/desperate that I headed for the Golden Arches, but I will openly admit, without shame, that I stood in line (I can't call it queueing in reference to the 4th of July) for half and hour to enjoy the delicacy that is a Five Guys cheeseburger, fries and a Bud heavy. In a stroke of good marketing, both Five Guys and Shake Shack opened their first UK outposts on the 4th (just a few blocks from each other in Covent Garden) - being a DC-based gal, I obviously chose Five Guys.
It was actually quite fun to stand in line with both American Five Guys veterans determined to get a taste of home (including a VERY pregnant Chicagoan living in London for the past four years) and total newbies who were concerned they may have chosen wrong ("should we have gone to Shake Shack instead? will the Little burger be big enough? how many fries do we need" my answers: NO!, yes absolutely, um you can probably share one small order between the three of you...we have portion control issues in the US!)
I have to say, that burger, fries and Bud were exactly what the Dr. ordered (no, not Dr. Who), but the icing on the cake was meeting up with my friend Scott in Borough for an impromptu Independence Day pub crawl. Scott and I went to college together, studied abroad in London on the same program, albeit one year apart, and have both been in DC for many years, but sadly didn't really get to know one another until recently (thank you Jenn!). I still think it is some sort of divine intervention that we both moved to London this summer.
We started at The Globe (aka home to Bridget Jones, she made her blue soup upstairs), then headed towards Borough Market where our "Happy 4th of July" overtures received a decidedly mixed reception...
After a visit to Scott's adorable "local" (where everyone was convinced he was Mitchell from Modern Family) we ended the evening sitting on his amazing deck, where we could hear, if not see, fireworks, toasting to being two Americans, trying our best (again) at life in London.
(PS, everyone should be so lucky to have Scott for a friend, foreign country or not.)