"Happy 3rd of July!" I heard kids shout through the throngs of people gathered for the Portland Symphony Orchestra's Independence Pops concert on the eve of Independence Day. Somehow in Maine, having the festivities a day off seemed to make perfect sense. There were scattered showers throughout the evening, but no one seemed to mind - we all just rolled our our blankets (or old college sweatshirts in my case) to sit on and knew we wouldn't melt.
The venue was Fort Williams, the 90+/- acre park in Cape Elizabeth that is home to Portland Head Light and was a military asset in both World Wars. In 1964, it was purchased by the town for $200,000. Can you even imagine??
The conductor was Robert Moody, the PSO's new music director. He's of the school that the symphony doesn't always have to be white tie and tails, and on this Friday night his approach went over great with the crowd. Kids danced around on the lawn, and everyone enjoyed a relaxing Thursday evening.
Of course, they played the classic patriotic tunes like the 1812 Overture, but Moody also mixed in some pop music for a "Songs we knew in WWII" segment that included some more mainstream Big Band hits... the kind of music my grandmother swung her hips to in the 40s.
After the concert there were fireworks, followed by a big traffic jam to get out of the park. So rather than wait it out in the car, we decided to take the opportunity to do something that's usually against the law - check out the world's most photographed lighthouse after dark (the park closes at dusk).
Despite the raindrops you can see above, we made it home intact. And on the morning of July 4th, like often happens on Christmas and 21st birthdays, I wondered whether the the night before was the better holiday...
Comments(3)