I have spent Independence Days in different parts of the country and seen various styles of celebration from beautiful San Francisco where a crescent moon hung in the background as the fireworks exploded over the bay to a spectacular, musically coordinated firework extravaganza launched from barges in New York’s East River to a small town parade and display in Las Vegas (no, not that one, a little place in New Mexico) and, of course, the annual celebration on The Mall in Washington. Each is characteristic of its location and so I was delighted when good friends Patricia and Frank invited me to spend July 4th with them in Lakewood, Ohio, which is a relatively small community on Lake Erie just west of Cleveland.

I spent a pleasant morning in Pittsburgh then drove 150 miles northwest to arrive in Lakewood mid afternoon. I have stayed with Patricia and Frank a couple of times before and they are the ultimate hosts. After relaxing for a while, they took me on a guided tour of what’s new on the west side of Cleveland despite the heavy traffic and road closures as everyone prepared for the evening. We returned for a home cooked dinner, followed by drinks on the front veranda as we waited for darkness.

The local firework display is held at Lakewood Park a large, newly renovated area on the lake just a short walk away and it seemed like the whole community was passing the house heading there. This was the time the iconic mid-west sense of community became apparent to me. Despite moving to Lakewood only 10 years ago Frank and Patricia knew pretty much all the neighbors on their block and many others in the community, something I have not come close to in 20 years at my place. When we arrived at the park it seemed like a significant fraction of the 50,000 residents of Lakewood were there and a real community spirit was evident. The fireworks were wonderful and rounded off a memorable day.

Today (July 5th) we visited Kent State University in Kent, OH where they remember the nine students injured and have memorials for the four who were killed when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire as the students were dispersing from a Vietnam War protest on May 4, 1970. The small museum was closed for renovation but we were able to see the introductory movie and tour the site and it was very moving. After lunch in Kent we made our way back to Lakewood and then I drove on to Sandusky, OH for the night.

The July 4th map and road video is here and the July 5th one is here.

The Flats area of Cleveland is undergoing rapid renewal. I liked the combination of re-purposed industrial facilities, infrastructure and nature in this view of the Cuyahoga river.
This is a vertical garden in Lakewood. It consists of real pot plants growing in an inch thick blanket and looks much better in real life than in this photo.
The students who died at Kent State were retreating across a parking lot and this is the spot where Allison Krause was killed that day.