Fireworks, Large Crowds and Good Music

July has started off wonderfully! As part of my goal to experience the Midwest and all that it offers I have been to Milwaukee twice (SUMMERFEST!), Madison twice (Rhythm and Booms), and survived yet another thunderstorm all in the past two weeks *whew*.

Madison is an incredible city full of young people, fun things to do and great shopping. I ventured there at the end of June for the annual Rhythm and Booms fireworks show (huge show set to music)! I visited my Beloit friends who are living in Madison for the summer and we trucked over to Warner Park before sundown to get ourselves a spot on the grass. There was a carnival, food and lots of excited people decked out in red-white-and-blue. The show itself was amazing; the music was a little hard to hear because of the booms but worth the trip:
Photo 1: Entering Warmer Park in Madison: Nelson, CaitlinBeloit, Jenna, and Nathaniel.

Photo 2: opening of Rhythm & Boom Fireworks show

My next adventure was: Summerfest (finally)! My first attempt to go to this festival failed, and we ended up going Go-Cart racing and Mini-Golfing (see JulieBeloit's blog for pictures) Summerfest is a festival located right along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. It is 11 days long, with 11 stages of music, and thousands of people - the largest music festival in the world (as advertised) and I believe it! JulieBeloit and I gave in last minute and bought tickets to the main stage (Marcus Amphitheater) and went to see John Mayer on a very stormy day:Photo 3: Me in my uber-cool rain coat in between downpours... we were lucky enough to have brought them, some poor die hard fans were only equipped with shorts and tank tops.

I was also lucky enough to see The Roots play on fourth of July with a group of friends. This time Milwaukee's weather was much more cooperative and we had sunny skies and 75 degree weather. We were also able to wander the grounds, eat dinner, get lost, find our stage, and take the skyglider across the park:

Photo 4: People enjoying the skyglider while hundreds below get pumped for The Roots performance at one of the many free stages (with Growing Nation opening - local hip hop group).

So, needless to say I am a little tired - my only planned adventures this week are to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday tonight (Happy Birthday!) and to hopefully go see a Brewer's game this weekend. Summertime in Beloit has proven to be a wonderful adventure with plenty more to come!