The Bicentenial!

The Bicentennial.  Remember it?  It was 50 years ago.  A big deal.  The country had just survived Viet Nam, the Nixon impeachment and the first oil shortage.  The economy was stagnant and gas prices were high, but we were on the second of two high character presidents.  Things weren't great, but they were looking up - and the country was ready to party.

One big event was Operation Sail.  Tall ships from all over the world converged on NY harbor for July 4th.  Our family went to see it.  My father was an alumni of Steven's Tech in Hoboken that overlooked the Hudson, so we went there.  

We drove to Maplewood NJ to take the commuter train to Hoboken.  We weren't the only ones doing this!.  The platform was full and so were the trains.  In fact, some skipped our stop because they were already full.  People weren't all happy about this! (see the video, below)

Trains deadhead out to return full.

Waiting at Maplewood

It was worth the hassle!

USCG's Eagle started things off.

On the way back to Maplewood, NJDOT and Conrail had a U34CH locomotive freshly painted for the day.

Trains waiting to take people back home

 

Another big event was the nationwide tour of the American Freedom train.  It contained artifacts from the nation's history and was pulled by several steam locomotives around the country.  Here it is on it's first day of travel crossing the Susquehanna River

So, now it's 250 years, but not exciting.  Pax Americana is dead.  American soft power is on life support. Scientific expertise is beaten down.  The aspirations of the foundational documents are derided.  Politics are completely tribal.  Character is ignored.  

I'm still optimistic about the future, but in no mood to celebrate right now.