Tuesday, November 4, 2008

PHILLIES WORLD SERIES PARADE

well... it was AWESOME!!!! We started out trying to take the train... but so did 100,000 other people. That didn't work, so we headed down by car. Luckily for us, everyone else was trying to take the train. We got right into the city. We parked 2 blocks from city hall at one of our "normal" parking garages. For being close to 2 MILLION people, it sure didn't seem like it. The feeling was so joyous! We got on the subway (we only had to wait for 1 train). We were packed in, but it wasn't bad. Our original plan was to stop along the route and walk down until we found a decent spot. Well, the subway conductor had other plans. The train didn't stop at any more stops and we went all the way to Pattison Ave. (at Citizen's Bank Park) We got off the subway and made our way down Broad Street. We stopped at Hartranft St. (the back way into the stadium) We were 4 people from the front. It was a great spot! Katie ended up getting to the front and had the PERFECT view! I was a little nervous, but I could see her the whole time. We of course had fun cheering on the cops to TAZER or SHOOT the deviants! For the number of people and amount of drinking, things were very calm. It was a sea of red. Everyone was united. It was an experience of a life time! We waited about 3 hours to see the floats. The most memorable part was Jayson Werth's float. He was jumping up and down the entire time! He was so genuinely thrilled. I was so proud to be a Phillies' fan! We then walked back to the subway. Since Ray is a genius and bought enough tokens for the ride home when he got the first set of tokens, we didn't have to wait in line (like thousands of others). We got the first subway train back to Market St. It was awesome!! We walked around for a few minutes and then stopped for a bite to eat before heading back on the road. We made it home by 6pm for Katie to go trick or treating. Sean was home by then too. It was an incredible day!!
I always tell the kids that once you pick a team, support them win or lose. We have had so many tough seasons, we all definitely deserved this! And yes, we are part of the team. We might be tough fans, but we truly appreciate hard work. We will let you know when you aren't performing up to our standards, but we also know the game and will cheer effort. This season brought back so many memories for me. I remember sitting with my Nana and cheering for the Phillies. There isn't a time I can remember that we weren't cheering them on. Ray remembers going to the parade in 1980. Hopefully this will be the first of many in the next few years!
GO PHILLIES! (hopefully we will be down here in June for the Flyers' parade!!!)








Here is Katie in the front row!







Here are just a few of our new friends!










Jayson Werth! (We call him Shaggy - Katie got to meet him this year at Vanity Fair)









Here's a pic of me, Ray, and Katie at City Hall.








A sea of RED!!!