4th of July in Pigeon Forge, TN

July 4th, Saturday

4th of July! The biggest, most American holiday ever. The celebration of the country's independence. The day most often mentioned in movies. And this was how I spent it for the first time in the USA:

  We woke up early again, to travel from South Carolina to Tennessee. We passed the 7 hour drive by watching Hachi, Red Dawn and Independence Day. I studied biology, after I cleaned the sand off the papers.

  We only got to Pigeon Forge late afternoon. It's a very touristy town, filled with mini golfing places, arcades and restaurants. We made a group, and we went out to explore the town. We just walked around for hours, visiting shops and playing in arcades.

  At 8:30, we dressed up and went to a concert, near to our hotel. It was country, not something I particularly enjoy, but the ambiance of a concert is always awesome. 1000 people sitting on a field, listening to music. 

  At 9:30, the famous 4th of July firework show started. Us, the exchange students, went crazy. We were shouting, screaming, we were way more emthusiastic than any Americans around us. 

  I was filled with this happy energy, just like everybody else. Our curfew was midnight, so we had 2 hours left. A smaller group of us decided not to go back to the hotel, but hang out in the town.

  We went gokarting, because why not? Pigeon Forge was full of little gokarting places. Of course, the talking, shouting, dancing and singing was constant. We just couldn't help but jump up and down. The traffic was horrible, there were a lot of people everywhere, but no one was as excited as we were.

   After gokarting, we just walked around till midnight. I had such a fun time! Everybody agreed, that this was the best day so far, and we were happy, that there's still so much left!