July 4 celebrations around town

If you’ve lived in Boston for any length of time, you probably already know about the fourth of July mainstays. They are the concert at the Esplanade and Harborfest, but did you know about these events:

Community Boating Sailabration – Boston, Massachusetts

Enjoy the 4th of July on the docks of Community Boating this year. Avoid the commotion of the masses on the Esplanade, yet preserve the spirit of camaraderie and the sounds of the Boston POPS as you enter our gates. A summer cookout, cold non-alcoholic beverages, and an unobstructed waterfront view of the fireworks, this Independence Day option is by far the best that Boston has to offer.

Clambake with Fireworks and Cruise – Quincy, Massachusetts

USS Salem, based at the United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum in Quincy, presents a clambake dinner and fireworks cruise. Start your evening with a clambake aboard the USS Salem from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Then cruise Boston harbor in a high-speed ferry while enjoying hors d’oeuvres, live music, and fireworks. Information: 617-479-7900.

4th of July Tasting Spectacular @ The Spirited Gourmet – Belmont, Massachusetts

Independence Day at Top of the Hub – Boston, Massachusetts

Top of the Hub at the Prudential Building will present its annual Independence Day gourmet celebration 52 floors above the city. The evening begins on July 4, with a chef’s hors d’oeuvres & cocktail reception from 7 to 8 p.m. A five-course dinner designed by Executive Chef Mark Porcaro follows at 8 p.m. accompanied by a simulcast of the Boston Pops concert, live from the Hatch Shell. The night will be capped with a sky-high view (weather permitting) of the fireworks at 10:30 p.m.

Independence Day Celebrations - Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Celebrate a fabulous Fourth of July the way 1830s New Englanders did in the 1830s, with marching, musket firing, games and gala celebrations, including a reading of the Declaration of Independence. Take part in the citizens parade and practice patriotism, early 19th-century style. In the evening (6-9:30 p.m.) come back for music, mirth, games and a fireworks display to cap the day’s celebrations.

Independence Day Festival – Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Kick off your July 4th celebration at Norman Rockwell Museum. Enjoy a game of catch with the Pittsfield Defenders and Troy, N.Y.-based ValleyCats; play fun, back-to-basics games with Jeanne Bassis; listen to the harmonizing sounds of the Berkshire Hillsmen; view an impressive collection of all-American classic cars from the Piston Poppers; and savor a classic Independence Day barbecue prepared by The Red Lion Inn. Families will also have the opportunity to create their own red, white, and blue Fourth of July art projects inspired by the work of Norman Rockwell. Location: Norman Rockwell Museum, 9 Glendale Road /Route 183.

DTV – the aftermath

Okay so now that the digital divide has been crossed and analog TV is no longer, how did it all turn out? For those with cable or satellite service, did you notice any difference? What about those using converter boxes and antennas?

Here in Boston I have been using two different converter  boxes with two Toshiba televisions of very different vintages, and two different types of antennas. One antenna is the plain old rabbit ears that came with my television, the other is a Radio Shack antenna that I bought years ago when I first got cable and it would occasionally cut out on me. The antenna was my back up so I wouldn’t be without television all together at those times. It has a switch that flips between UHF and VHF, and a dial along with it’s rabbit ears.

So today when I turned on my television, the first thing I noticed was that NBC and ThisTV were no longer there.  I had my converter box rescan for signals to see if these stations would pop up on different channels – they did not. I went downstairs to check my other television (with the better antenna) and after a few minutes of fiddling I got ThisTV and eventually NBC to come in.  That told me that my problem upstairs was with the antenna. I took the better antenna upstairs and with a bit of fiddling was able to get these stations to come in. The rabbit ears on the Radio Shack antenna have a wider range of motion and give me a setup I can’t achieve with the standard set of rabbit ears that had come with my older television. I also have difficulty with RTV (Retro Television Network), a new network that popped up recently on channel 62. I can get this station now but have to fiddle with the dial on the antenna to do so.

All in all, this is less satisfactory than before. Before today I could tune in all my stations  on both televisions without adjusting the antenna when I changed channels. Now I don’t get NBC and ThisTV on my bedroom television, and I have to adjust the antenna on my living room television if I want to watch something on RTV.  I suspect that soon I will tire of this and will upgrade my television so I can stream programs on demand via the internet. So how did all of you make out?

Other articles on this topic:

DTV 2009 – Converter Box or Comcast?

DTV 2009 Converter Box Update