The 4th of July is the best holiday. Actually, a birthday, which I love. There are no presents involved. There are no big dinners taking 10X longer to prepare than it does to enjoy. And it’s really not just a day, but a whole weekend.

Plus, it has the things that make any holiday great – family, friends, food, fireworks, and FUN! Most importantly, it has tradition. Ask anyone and they have their own version of the perfect 4th of July weekend. For me, it’s simple, I go to “The Lake”.

“The Lake” as I call it, is Crescent Lake in New Hampshire. No, it’s not Lake Winnipesaukee, nor is it near there. It’s not Lake Sunapee, but it is near there. It is a small lake in the southwestern part of the state, 40 minutes north of Keene into the middle of nowhere. No, you have never seen it. You could drive by all day long and never know there was a lake down there. It’s heaven.

My parents bought a “camp” there in the early 60’s from my dad’s parents. It became our “summer cottage” growing up and now a “summer house” where my parents live 6 months a year. As kids, we piled into the station wagon and made the 4 hour trek north every summer. Every year we spent Memorial Day weekend, the week of the 4th of July, the last week of July & first week of August (plant shutdown), and Labor Day weekend there (plus, some random weekends in between). It was a blast!

Anyways, today it’s still where I spend every 4th of July weekend. There is no place I’d rather be. I could count on one hand the times when I was elsewhere for some reason on July 4th, and it just didn’t feel right. So, that’s over 40 years of 4th of July memories at the Lake.

Thankfully Greg loves it there too! When we were getting married, it was one of my only “requests” – 4th of Julys are spent at the Lake.

On Friday, we waited out the rain from Arthur by playing cards – old school fun! It reminded me of all the summers when we had no working TV, no electronic gadgets, not even a telephone and we were never, ever bored. Today we have a ton of “toys” up there, but as kids we were totally entertained and happy with just our putt-putt boat and a big black inflatable inner tube.

The weather Saturday & Sunday was perfect and outside we went. I was itching to do some waterskiing! Thanks to the whole breast cancer thing, it had been a couple years. It was great – not as effortless as my 15 year old nephew – but not bad for 45 and 6 months out from my last breast cancer treatment!

Anyways, it was the perfect 4th of July weekend at the lake. My sister and her family were there too. Sure, that makes it a bit more crowded and hectic, but it also makes it feel right. Our 4th of July weekend had a little of everything that makes it great – great for us, it’s our tradition, it’s who we are.