By Grace Davis, Faith Jayaram, Jeremy Davis, and Tony Yuan To

Sleeping in was a luxury meant solely for the Fourth of July. With a good night’s rest, the members of Salish Sea Sciences were excited for San Juan Island’s annual parade held in honor of the independence of the United States. Many cars, people, horses, and dogs were involved in the celebration. It was great to be a part of the island community and participate in Friday Harbor’s events.

After the parade, some people went to the Pigs War barbecue. At the picnic, food and drink were provided, along with live music and games. While this was one option for the students of Salish Sea Sciences, others went souvenir shopping, got ice cream, or simply enjoyed the Fourth of July fun and nice weather of the island.

To further the festivities, a trip to Roche Harbor added to the holiday cheer. With the hundreds of tourists walking around the north side of the San Juan island, it was difficult to keep our large group of twenty people together (scrambling ensued). Even though parking also proved to be a major issue, we had a great time anyway.

We ended our trip to Roche Harbor by visiting a peaceful sculpture garden– a large contrast to the loud crowds of the harbor. It was interesting to see the talent of so many artists on display. There was also many interesting quotes scattered around the garden which we found hilarious.

Returning to the dorms that night, we ate burgers, a classic Fourth of July dinner. Thank you Tom for your amazing cooking!

To continue, we drove to the University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories to get a front row seat for the fireworks. After some exploring at the UW library, we sat on the pier to watch the fireworks. The fireworks were unlike anything we had ever seen before. These flashed bright across the night sky, making a thunderous sound which reverberated for what seemed like miles. It was quite the experience.

To finish off the night, we placed a light under the water near the dock. We watched with awe as animals swam curiously towards the light. We saw many fish, worms, and crab larva. On our way back up the dock, we saw large worms swimming in the water. Excitedly we placed the light near the worms and studied the interesting creature.

While Fourth of July is fun in our hometowns, experiencing the holiday on San Juan was unforgettable.