4th of July Fireworks @ Blossom

Tami and I purchased tickets today for the 4th of July celebration at Blossom Music Center. The Cleveland Orchestra was set to begin performing at 8pm with fireworks immediately following. Before we arrived at Blossom though we stopped at Sarah's Vineyard which is right across the street. We enjoyed some warm ciabatta bread along with some Sweet Elisa (a not-too-sweet blend of Ohio Concord and Niagara that is fragrant and refreshing) and Brandywine Falls Blueberry wine (a full bodied semi sweet wine handcrafted with fresh picked fruit from Michigan). The weather was perfect today... mostly sunny and a high in the mid 70s... and the next 2 days are supposed to be just as nice.

After leaving the vineyard we arrived at Blossom about an hour before the orchestra began playing. Much to our surprise the place was already packed with people and spots on the lawn were few and far between. Luckily we found a good area that was just behind the walkway and directly in the center of the amphitheatre.

Blossom allows everyone to bring in their own food and drinks for the evening so we brought along a cooler with us. This was a nice change from the usual rip-off concession prices at other concerts and events. The orchestra sounded great and played a bunch of patriotic songs. The only song I would've been fine with them leaving out was "Sleigh Ride", but I guess they were going for the whole Christmas in July thing...

The fireworks display which followed was top notch and went on for quite awhile. Overall we had a great time and will definitely consider doing it again next year. Here are a few more photos and a couple videos that we took...