Happy Independence Day! After only two days of class we've already gotten one day of vacation, and it was so much fun! I love celebrating holidays in big cities, so it was awesome to celebrate the 4th of July in such a historical place like Philadelphia.
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| My Fabulous Cohort and Ian! |
My cohort met up early this morning, as we had planned on spending the day together with Ian. It took a bit longer than we had expected to get out of the quad and then we decided to head over to a breakfast place about five minutes away at Cosi before meeting up with Ian. He ended up signing us out from the front office and then we headed down to the train station right across the street from the quad. In order to get from there to the parade area, we took the Green Line and then transferred to the Blue Line and got off at the 5th Street station. From 5th Street we walked a mere 30 feet or so and were right alongside the parade line.
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| Philadephia Mayor Michael Nutter |
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| The Person Inside the Shark is Probably Boiling |
I had so much fun watching the parade because everyone in it was so excited and happy. Today it was super humid though, so I imagine that the performers and participants in the parade were probably a bit uncomfortable in their heavy clothing. I was wearing shorts and a light shirt and I was super hot, so in relation I can't even complain. Close to the end of the parade we got lunch and then walked about 13 blocks to another area of town where the Wawa Welcome America festival was going on. Here we got to walk down a long road lined with various booths on either side. There were a ton of places to eat, drink, play games, listen to music, and pick up some freebies. After only getting through the middle of the fair, we all rested for a while in a large grassy area under a large tree. I, and I believe my cohort as well, felt totally refreshed when we left that shady spot and ventured out to see the remainder of the booths and events.
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| A Great Variety of Booths |
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| Ian Having a Great Time |
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| Perry the Parrot |
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| Mariko and I |
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| Gorgeous View of the Sunset From Concert Area |
Later in the evening, around 6:00 PM, we made our way to the main stage to find seats and wait for the free concert to start. There were a ton of people who showed up at the event, hence the price: free. We found a grassy spot near the curb where we could see the stage, although it was a bit far away. Regardless, we were able to hear the musicians perfectly and it was nice to be able to walk around instead of being smashed up in a thick crowd. I, for the first time, had the chance to see performers like Queen Latifah, The Roots, and Common on a live stage. The crowd was great and the music was amazing, not to mention the fireworks were super beautiful! That is definitely my favorite part of the 4th of July celebration, seeing the fireworks. We ended up walking back to campus, which was closer than I thought, and I returned to my dorm happy and satisfied with my day. It was a wonderful day spent with my cohort and I am more than happy to return to my regular class day tomorrow!
If I read another blog from our Penn cohort telling me what a great time you all had in Philadelphia, I may break down and cry. I never knew holidays could be as much fun as you’ve described. It really is like something out of TV or a movie where people all get together and have a good time. I’m just not used to that here in the Bay Area and certainly not in Richmond.
ReplyDeleteWhat you wrote about how uncomfortable the parade people must have been in that stifling heat, I actually had sympathy for Mayor Nutter walking the parade route in a suit. I do believe that as Mayor I would have declared this to be Casual Wednesday and mandated that everyone had to wear shorts, sandals and an aloha shirt--pretty much the way I dress every day.