John Shearer/Getty Images for Acme Feed & SeedAlan Jackson wrote one of the most moving songs ever in response to 9/11 with “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” so it seems appropriate that his most memorable Independence Day happened to take place in New York City.
“I had an old boat in Florida,” he recalls. “I’ve always wanted to take it up north like to New York and up in that area, up in the Northeast where it’s so pretty. So, we took the boat up there and Denise and the girls… They like going to New York City, which I don’t really care about going to the city. So, I got to stay in my boat there at the harbor tied up, which was cool anyway.”
Alan’s bucket-list boat-trip happened to be timed perfectly with America’s birthday.
“We went out in the Hudson River that night and they shot the fireworks off and we were anchored out in front of the Statue of Liberty and New York City was behind us… My girls still talk about that. I mean, that was the coolest thing on the Fourth of July I can ever remember. I can’t top that one.”
This Independence Day weekend, Alan’s daughter Mattie happens to be celebrating the opening of her new wine bar, restaurant and specialty market in the Sylvan Heights area of Nashville, called Salt & Vine.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
