Happy Friday, friends, and happy Fourth of July weekend! We have a group of friends who like to get together for a pool party every year. The last two years have kind of been a wash. In 2019, Houston had torrential downpours that prevented any sort of get together. And, last year was COVID, so we opted to do our own thing. But this year, we are getting the group back together for a little pool party at our house.
I’m off running some errands today, having lunch with a friend and getting my house ready for our party on Sunday. Fingers crossed the weather stays sunny! I thought it might be fun to share a bit of what we did for our COVID-19 Fourth of July last year. Because, even though it was unusual in every sense of the word, Aaron and I made the best of it. 2020 will go down in the books as one to remember.
Fourth of July bike ride
We were still in our old townhouse right on Buffalo Bayou, so we decided to start our morning off with a long bike ride. Since the major streets were shut down to prep the city for fireworks, we got to ride on the major streets without worry about getting hit by a car.
Along the trail, closer to Downtown Houston, there is always a family of muscovy ducks, and we came across the babies last year. They are pretty friendly because people feed them, so we stopped to say hi.
There we are just riding on Memorial since they had the roads shut down.
The only other time they did this was right after Hurricane Harvey because these roads flooded pretty extensively since they are right next to the bayou.
Here are some view from our bike ride. I do miss those trails now that we live a bit further out. It had rained a lot in the week leading up to the fourth, so that’s why the bayou is so full.
Quick Moscow Mule Recipe
After our bike ride, I made us some Moscow mules. Here is a quick Moscow mule recipe.
- 2 parts spicy ginger beer (or you can use regular ginger beer, but I like that extra kick). I use the fever tree brand.
- I part Vodka of your choice ( I love the Western Son brand because they have delicious flavors like prickly pear and watermelon)
- Squeeze of lime
- Ice
Fireworks
I love going to see the Fourth of July fireworks in person. Because it was COVID they were encouraging people to spread out to watch the fireworks. I knew the bridge that goes over Memorial would be crowded, so Aaron and I decided to hop on our bikes again and ride out to Memorial since we knew the road was shut down. It was the best idea, and we had a front row – socially-distanced seat to the fireworks.
Here is the view of Houston’s Downtown all lit up in honor of the 4th. That was where Aaron and I stopped to watch the fireworks show.
I’m not sure where we are going to watch the fireworks this year, and to be honest, we might just stay home. The pups might be kind of scared by all the loud noises, so we probably need to be home to make sure they are okay. Either way, our pool will be open all day on Sunday, and we will have the grill going. Looking forward to honoring this tradition this year!!!!
So, whatever your plans are, I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday weekend.
