Thursday was crazy and that’s an understatement. Nearly anyone and everyone who is an Eagles fan was in the city to celebrate a victory that was long overdue. Although it was cold, Thursday was definitely an adventure for the books.
To get to the parade, my friend and I Ubered half way to Saint Joseph’s boathouse a little bit before where the police had closed the roads into the city. We walked the rest of the way to the art museum and among millions of other people, we somehow managed to find some of my graphic design friends.
Eventually, we claimed our stake on a curb by the parade route. Now I’m not going to sugar coat it, it was cold and my feet went numb at one point, but unless the lady next to me blocked the sun, waiting wasn’t too bad.
The whole thing was a giant party. Families, college students, kids, and older people all came together partying it up. People were dancing in the street, drunk on who knows what, just basking in the glory of a long-awaited victory.
My personal favorite crazies were the tree dancers. These were the people agile enough to stake their spot up high in the branches. With the music playing from the Rocky steps, the tree dancers were swaying and shaking every branch they could. The good people of Philadelphia were eager and ready to help the tree people get down or to boo if they weren’t quite able to make it up the tree in the first place. They don’t call this the City of Brotherly Love for nothing.
Eventually around 1pm, the floats and buses carrying the players rode by us. The city erupted. I’m pretty sure every single person could pick out the shining silver glow that was the Vince Lombardi trophy. Also, on a side note, Nick Foles is just as cute in person.
We decided to leave once the buses made their way through. Well, I guess that over a million other people decided to do the same thing. Attempting to leave became a mass exodus and I have never ever been in such a crowd of people. It was a mosh pit. Do you see the picture above? Yeah, I am one of those little heads that can’t move and is being almost squished to death. But spoiler alert, I eventually made it out, walked another 4 miles back to campus, and lived to tell the tale. Only this city could turn me into a football fan.
What a day. What a city. Dilly Dilly!