The Fourth of July is a sacred day for every full-blooded American citizen. It is a day where people don their best American flag-themed clothing, eat and drink as much as humanly possible and then some, and shoot exploding rockets into the sky. It is one of the ultimate celebrations of excess and patriotism in the world.
To me, no day makes me feel more at home or more alive than July 4th.
For 21 years I’ve witnessed the feasting and fireworks of the Jersey Shore, with each year granting me yet another great memory of our nation’s birthday. How the Fourth is celebrated along the Shore may not seem any different than those who celebrate it elsewhere, but there is a certain unidentifiable quality to a Shore July 4th that makes it wholly unique in our country.
Maybe it’s the ability to stand in the ocean and look across it to see New York City’s fireworks in the sky. Maybe it’s knowing that despite the tens of thousands of people flocking to our coast to celebrate the holiday, this place is our home and we’re not tourists. Or maybe I’m just a little bit biased, but I doubt that.
I can write all day about the memorable times to be had on the Fourth of July, but I’ve limited myself to just three important features of the holiday to me.
The Fireworks
Fireworks are the primary symbol of the holiday, and are most likely what most people associate the holiday with. What is interesting about New Jersey, however, is that apart from the pyrotechnic professionals, consumer fireworks are illegal to sell, purchase, possess, or use. These draconian laws make it somewhat difficult to celebrate the holiday John Adams envisioned early in our nation’s history.
To combat this, many people (not me of course) make their annual pilgrimage across state lines into our more fireworks-loving states. This is usually Pennsylvania due to the close proximity and the penchant for a vast quantity of fireworks distributors along the Keystone State’s border. These fireworks are then eventually set off during the holiday festivities, hopefully without bringing to much attention from the police.
Overall, the main point here is that fireworks are essential for every Fourth of July celebration, and those in New Jersey have to put up with possible fines or jail time in order to celebrate the holiday correctly.
The Friends and Family
For your entire life as a Jersey Shore native, family surrounds you for every large, and sometimes even trivial, holidays. This might be attributed to the Italian decent that many from the Shore claim, but I find it hard to believe this is a uniquely Italian trait.
The Fourth of July is no different. Along the Shore, families get together and prepare an ungodly amount of food to be consumed, as well as participate in various games and activities. Memories of these family celebrations include eating enough fried chicken to satisfy Joey Chestnut, getting drunk with the uncles after trying to keep up with them, and dominating every family game event in order to demonstrate who is the preeminent son in the family.
As you get older, your friends become more a part of July 4th than your family does. As you get older, you go from playing running bases and building sand castles along the beach to barhopping and spending a ton of money on alcohol with your friends. This evolution to “maturity” goes by pretty fast, as I am currently on the latter end of that spectrum.
Whatever you do, it is inescapable that you will be celebrating the Fourth of July with friends and family, and I believe this is actually the truth no matter where you grow up, not just the Jersey Shore.
The Romance
There is one specific memory everyone who has grown up on the Shore has had on the Fourth of July.
You’re sitting on the sand at night, waiting for the fireworks show to begin. There’s laughing and singing and conversation all around you, but your mind is somewhere else completely. You’ve been waiting all day, perhaps months or even years for this moment with the girl or boy you’ve been crushing on, and now you’ve finally done it.
A Jersey Shore native’s first fireworks romance is a rite of passage for young adults. Everything somehow all comes together on this holiday, where everything seems to go just right in order to land the girl or boy you’ve been dreaming about for however long. The sand, the night, the bright lights and deafening booms of the fireworks; they all are the perfect traits to spark a romance.
Memories like these are seared into your memory forever, and exemplify the magnificent subtleties in life that you will not notice in the moment, but will yearn to revisit as the decades go by. That is why the Fourth of July, celebrated along the Shore of New Jersey, is so special to me.
