Independence Day Adventure 2012
July 08, 2012
Rex and I celebrated American Independence Day (July 4) in the nation's "birthplace of independence", Philadelphia, PA. This trip was Rex's second time to Philly. We spent most of the day at my home in Moorestown, NJ. We watched the parade in Philly in the morning. We left around 7 pm to head to Philly for the fireworks. I figured many people would be in the area for the fireworks and since we drove I wanted to make sure we could find a parking spot.
I took Rex to Penn's Landing, thinking the fireworks would have been displayed there. We saw a sign posted on the outside of the gate that read "No fireworks tonight." This struck me as odd because in previous years I remembered the fireworks being there. Penn's Landing was also not very crowded and this struck me as odd too. We enjoyed the scenery and I explained to Rex what he was viewing. He took a great picture of the Ben Franklin Bridge:
I also got a good picture of him:
I had overheard a few conversations and they confirmed that the fireworks would not be at Penn's Landing this year. By this time it was getting darker and we were faced with a decision: either go to Ben Franklin Parkway and Philadelphia Art Museum, where the fireworks in Philly were being held, go back to NJ and go to a school in Cherry Hill were my family and I would watch the fireworks or go back to the house and watch the fireworks on TV. After some contemplating we decided to go to where the fireworks were in Philly.
By now the traffic was getting more condense and much of the roads to where the event was, were blocked off. We looked for parking further away but decided to head back to NJ when we saw it was getting much darker and saw that we would have had to walk at least 8 or 9 blocks from were we couldn't even find a parking space. So we started to head back to NJ. Not long after a stroke of luck occurred. As we were waiting a a stoplight, I overheard a couple's conversation about which way to the fireworks. A man told them about 10 blocks. Rex and I looked around and say that we were close to a parking lot and that other cars where parked on the other side. Rex and I looked at each other and decided "What the heck, maybe we can still catch them," and I quickly asked the man if there was parking. He told me to do a u-turn and park in the lot, which I did. Rex and I quickly got our things and started walking. I was thinking we might miss the fireworks as we were walking or we'd be there just in time to see the end. Rex assured me everything would be fine.
We finally reached "the party" and saw tons of people and police vehicles. We walked past a fence and walked into were the crowd was. We didn't know it at first but we had walked into the Welcome America concert celebration, the event we were looking for. Somehow in the mist of our travels, we had managed to make it to the event. The good thing too, was that the fireworks were not scheduled to begin until 10:30 pm. I checked the clock and it was 9:45 pm. So we sat down and observed the crowd and listened to music from the concert. Rex took it all in. When it got closer to the time we stood up facing the art museum. We didn't know exactly where the fireworks would be showing at but I had a feeling they would be over the art museum. We waited for a good while. The show didn't start until 11 pm. I said to Rex," It's not the 4th of July, it's really New Years. They are waiting for 12 o'clock. Then we'll be saying Happy 2013!" We found out later that the delay was due to a technical glitch. The technical glitch was not as bad as the one in San Diego, CA.
The fireworks were really nice and an it was great seeing them with my love and our little one in my tummy. Rex got some great pictures of the fireworks and the crowd:
Leaving took a while, but it was nice to be in Philly for our little Independence Day adventure. I was happy Rex enjoyed the fireworks and Penn's Landing. We'll plan another trip to Philly in the near future. The Liberty Bell will surely be seen on that one. Next up is celebrating Liberian Independence Day in DC on July 26.
I took Rex to Penn's Landing, thinking the fireworks would have been displayed there. We saw a sign posted on the outside of the gate that read "No fireworks tonight." This struck me as odd because in previous years I remembered the fireworks being there. Penn's Landing was also not very crowded and this struck me as odd too. We enjoyed the scenery and I explained to Rex what he was viewing. He took a great picture of the Ben Franklin Bridge:
I had overheard a few conversations and they confirmed that the fireworks would not be at Penn's Landing this year. By this time it was getting darker and we were faced with a decision: either go to Ben Franklin Parkway and Philadelphia Art Museum, where the fireworks in Philly were being held, go back to NJ and go to a school in Cherry Hill were my family and I would watch the fireworks or go back to the house and watch the fireworks on TV. After some contemplating we decided to go to where the fireworks were in Philly.
By now the traffic was getting more condense and much of the roads to where the event was, were blocked off. We looked for parking further away but decided to head back to NJ when we saw it was getting much darker and saw that we would have had to walk at least 8 or 9 blocks from were we couldn't even find a parking space. So we started to head back to NJ. Not long after a stroke of luck occurred. As we were waiting a a stoplight, I overheard a couple's conversation about which way to the fireworks. A man told them about 10 blocks. Rex and I looked around and say that we were close to a parking lot and that other cars where parked on the other side. Rex and I looked at each other and decided "What the heck, maybe we can still catch them," and I quickly asked the man if there was parking. He told me to do a u-turn and park in the lot, which I did. Rex and I quickly got our things and started walking. I was thinking we might miss the fireworks as we were walking or we'd be there just in time to see the end. Rex assured me everything would be fine.
We finally reached "the party" and saw tons of people and police vehicles. We walked past a fence and walked into were the crowd was. We didn't know it at first but we had walked into the Welcome America concert celebration, the event we were looking for. Somehow in the mist of our travels, we had managed to make it to the event. The good thing too, was that the fireworks were not scheduled to begin until 10:30 pm. I checked the clock and it was 9:45 pm. So we sat down and observed the crowd and listened to music from the concert. Rex took it all in. When it got closer to the time we stood up facing the art museum. We didn't know exactly where the fireworks would be showing at but I had a feeling they would be over the art museum. We waited for a good while. The show didn't start until 11 pm. I said to Rex," It's not the 4th of July, it's really New Years. They are waiting for 12 o'clock. Then we'll be saying Happy 2013!" We found out later that the delay was due to a technical glitch. The technical glitch was not as bad as the one in San Diego, CA.
The fireworks were really nice and an it was great seeing them with my love and our little one in my tummy. Rex got some great pictures of the fireworks and the crowd:
Leaving took a while, but it was nice to be in Philly for our little Independence Day adventure. I was happy Rex enjoyed the fireworks and Penn's Landing. We'll plan another trip to Philly in the near future. The Liberty Bell will surely be seen on that one. Next up is celebrating Liberian Independence Day in DC on July 26.
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