Get a leg up on The Captain, who you can bet watched more scenery than the fireworks as The Fourth unfolded:
— It would only happen at Booster Days that occurred that weekend. A bunch of young adults at a packed Dick’s Bar and Grill were messing harmlessly with the three-foot-high statue of Captain Morgan, propped up next to the ATM machine, so it was moved across the room to an area by the dartboards. Guess they had some captain in them. Once the holiday was over, the rum-renowned statue was shuffled back to its original place. And while we’re ruminating on rum reporting, the local people who run Demon Rum, who are captains of their own ship, had just hours earlier been present giving away samples of their own new brand, which is getting more and more popular.
— Some of that same Dick’s crowd debated whether to enter based on the $1 cover charge. Dudes, it’s just a buck. It could only get you a few more ounces of beer. Others kitty-corner on Second Street wondered aloud just where you could get food after midnight. In the spirit of It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, maybe they’d consider a late liquid lunch. And over in the Pier 500 parking lot, an older man with a grey mane and patriotic colors was dancing a jig to yet another rendition of Prince’s Purple Rain, this time done by Chris Lawrence over nextdoor in the Booster Days bandshell.
— Judging from female attire over the Fourth of July, it appears to be a (partial) re-trend that the bare midriff look is (partially) back, even if the actual skin shown is (partially) limited in height to the area around the belly-button.
— Walking to watch the fireworks on the Fourth, on County E next to the old Guv’s Place, a dad educated his kids on the three-additional-street-route that it takes to get to the Stillwater lift bridge below. Above them, there were not one but two sky-kiters competing for attention normally given the fireworks. On signs at a nearby intersection, if you get a little lost in Houlton, is literally the meeting of the streets Church and State.
— This seen even prior to the Fourth, a bar patron all duded up in stars and stripes clothing — and also a whole bunch of tattoos, some with skulls. Odd bedfellows? Trying to be patriotic, what would Trump say? As far as the level of being interesting as a jerk, it would probably Trump anything coming from Hillary.
— Over the Fourth, drink coasters sprouted up around town that said “I am thankful for my libeerty.” And no, that’s not a typo, and underscoring that is the beer that’s sponsoring the coaster campaign, it being Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Can’t get much more patriotic than that, with the historic namesake.
— Right around the holiday, when fireworks went off over the St. Croix River and slews of boaters watched from a perch on the water, a tow truck late at night hauled a vehicle away from the boat launch near the freeway. It was a stalled car, not a swamped boat! Just thought that was ironic.