By: Carolyn Coleman
Growing up, my July 4th was hot and extremely humid, but most of all filled with lots of family fun.
In my hometown of New Orleans, LA, July 4th was a day to eat lots of grilled food, hot dogs, hamburgers and ribs. In New Orleans, it was also a tradition to have boiled seafood, which consisted of jumbo shrimp, crawfish, crabs, corn, red potatoes and sweet sausage.
New Orleans is listed as one of eight best US cities to celebrate the 4th of July, with all the excitement of the French Quarter activities, where you can also walk around in a relaxed atmosphere while enjoying food and drinks.
Celebrating the 4th of July at home always provided something for the whole family to enjoy. There were times when we would take our cookouts to one of the local parks; what’s more fun for a kid than to just be in the park all day.
It did not matter what you did all day, you always ended the day at the fireworks celebration on the banks of the Mississippi with the annual Go Fourth on the River extravaganza. The celebration is filled with a fireworks show to the tune of patriotic music; it’s an amazing and spectacular show.
Boston also has a great 4th of July celebration, filled with celebrations on the Esplanade, the fireworks on the Charles River.
What are you most memorable 4th of July celebrations?
Community Voices for Health 
Growing up, my parents had a huge house party with people from work every 4th. It was the best because they had kids our age and we had food, the pool and fun. The best was one year when a neighbor called the fire dept because of sparkler smoke and my dad lit the bushes on fire with an errant bottle rocket 🙂 We had water buckets ready so no harm done, but it is a favorite family story