Americans to celebrate Fourth of July with parades, cookouts — and lots of fireworks

Many Americans weren’t letting worries about their pocketbooks keep them from traveling and enjoying fireworks as they celebrate their nation’s birth.

Many Americans weren't letting worries about their pocketbooks keep them from traveling and enjoying fireworks as they celebrate their nation’s birth with parades, cookouts and fiery splashes of colors against the evening sky.

Travel records were projected to fall, with people already jamming airports and crowding highways ahead of the Fourth of July to get to their destinations.

Fireworks also were expected to reach an all-time high with an untold number of backyard displays in addition to 16,000 professional shows lighting up the horizon from sea to shining sea, a consumer fireworks industry group said.

“This is how we celebrate. It’s the bombs bursting in air. It’s the rockets’ red glare. That’s how people show their pride and patriotism,” Julie Heckman of the American Pyrotechnics Association told The Associated Press.

All signs pointed to big celebrations: The Transportation Security Administration reported that a record-breaking nearly 3 million people traveled through airports in a single day last week, and that figure is expected to be broken this week. And AAA projected that 60.6 million people will travel by car during the holiday period.

Part of the boost in travel was attributed to easing inflation, even though Americans remain concerned about the economy.

Plenty of barbecue, desserts, cold drinks and the Stars and Stripes were on tap. But Americans were also celebrating in other ways unique to their communities.