Also during the day Thursday, we lucked out and got the presale code for the celebration in Lincoln Financial Park. Sharkie had given us the inside scoop that the players were going to make a stop there on their way to Citizens Bank Park and also that they were going to be broadcasting the whole parade during the day. We got some great seats and planned on going there after the parade passed us around City Hall.
Our trip down to the hotel on Thursday was easy and flawless. We had an awesome room and it was only costing us the valet rate. We watched Cole Hamels awkwardly do the Top 10 List on David Letterman and went to bed. We got up and Duane went scouting for a good place and a subway station. He went out around 8:30 AM and the streets were already mobbed! The news was reporting that the Regional rails were already behind schedule which wasn't a surprise because they weren't adding any additional trains (which are already full with rush hour commuters at those times). The subway lines were running OK but they were anticipating extremely full trains all morning. As the plans to meet up with Tom, Fred, Warfel and some others was fizzling we decided we'd probably be safest going just to the stadium to watch. We knew the stadium would be cool and we'd be closer to the players than we could ever get a spot on the streets. Although it would have been cool to see the floats and ticker tape and confetti flying around Center City, there was no way my pregnant self was going to be able to stand around on the streets for that long then fight the mobs of people to get on the subway and make it to the stadium in time.
We left the hotel room around 10 AM to make our way down to the stadium. I could not believe the number of people already lined up on Broad Street - they had to be 6-8 people deep from the curb already! Everyone was screaming and super excited and all the cars driving in the city were honking and waving out the windows! There were people already on roofs, on top of planters, anywhere they could get higher for a better view and the parade wasn't scheduled to start at Market and 20th until Noon! We made our way to the subway station and got on the second or third train to come through. The trains looked red inside as they flew by stuffed with Phillies fans. It was a little uncomfortable, smelly, hot and loud on the train but I managed to get a seat as we rode to the Stadium stop.
We met up with Sharkie in the stadium and he gave us tickets to Section 123, Row 1, seats 1 & 2!!! We were so excited and excited for him too because he was scheduled to drive the cart with Charlie Manuel, Pat Gillick and the trophy ahead of the team as they took a lap in the Linc!! The seats were amazing, we could watch the parade come down Market then Broad, have snacks, bathrooms, a seat (very important for me!) and avoid all the chaos.
The stadium wasn't too full until the parade was close to the stadiums. The announcer let us know they were in the building and before we knew it Sharkie was the first out of the tunnel driving the cart with the team walking behind him! It was so exciting and being in the first row was awesome! I had my camera on continuous shutter release so we didn't miss any of the action passing by! Duane got to high-five Rich Dubee, Milt Thompson and Pat Burrell! A lot of the players were taking pictures as they walked by, I'm sure we're in some of them! Once they passed by, Shane Victorino, Jamie Moyer and Charlie Manuel all spoke at the podium a couple of sections down from us then they made their exit to get over to Citizens Bank Park for the final celebration.
We stayed for a little while to see the entrance to CBP on the big TV then decided it would be a good idea to get on the subway before the crowds really left the stadiums or the makeshift viewing area that was set up in the parking lot with TV's and speakers. We made it into the subway just as they stopped the crowd to control the number of people on the platforms. We had to wait for a few trains in order to get on but once we did I even got a seat! We got off and walked back to the hotel to wait out the traffic and see what was going on on the news. Turns out we were smart for leaving the stadium at the time we did because shortly after we got on they were inundated with people, the line was outrageous and people were so frustrated that some started making the walk down Broad to Center City. The regional rails were also inundated with people, some stations closed and didn't let anyone else in the area until they could clear some people out. The SEPTA system was so crazy with people, the news stations weren't even doing the normal traffic reports! During our walk back to the hotel, the streets department were already doing a majority of the clean up. The streets had been washed and swept although cans, bottles, glass and confetti were still everywhere you looked. Every car that was parked on the streets off of Broad were covered in dents and footprints from people that were trying to get a better look.
We decided to have dinner at the hotel then make our way home. After dinner we packed up and went to check out. Since it was only about 7 PM, this confused the front desk staff a bit and they ended up giving me back all my points for the second night's stay! The drive home was super smooth, we didn't hit any traffic, either from the construction on 76 or the people still leaving the city!
I had almost forgot that it was Halloween until we got home and saw a few straggling trick-or-treaters in the area. We were too tired to give out candy so we'll be snacking on it for a while now. All in all, it was such a fun, exciting and once in a lifetime experience! We lucked out with everything and couldn't believe how smoothly it went. I even think that all the walking started to move baby boy down (or at least I'm hoping it did!). Either way I was glad we got to experience it and can tell Baby boy that he was there for the parade!
Here are a bunch of the pictures we took during the day...
Corner of Broad Street around 10 AM, 2 hours before the parade was to begin
Me and Duane on the street
More people lined up 2 hours before the parade was to begin
View of Center City, CBP, Port-a-potty lines and the makeshift viewing area in the stadium area
Me and the baby boy belly at the Linc
TV screens broadcasting the parade. That's Pat Burrell riding on the Clidesdale carriage
The Linc as the parade comes through
Sharkie driving Charlie Manuel
The trophy
Pat Gillick with the trophy on his head
Duane high-fiving Rich Dubee
Duane high-fiving Milt Thompson
Shane Victorino
Brett Myers
Joe Blanton, Carlos Ruiz, Pat Burrell (and Elvis)
Pat Burrell (and Elvis) about to high-five Duane
Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, Kyle Kendrick
Ryan Madson, Greg Dobbs
Ryan Howard
Jamie Moyer
?, Pedro Feliz, Brad Lidge, Cole Hamels
Brad Lidge
Cole Hamels
Geoff Jenkins, Chris Coste, Rudy Seanez
Matt Stairs, Chad Durbin, Eric Bruntlet, Scott Eyre, So Taguchi, Jimmy Rollins
Scott Eyre, Jimmy Rollins, So Taguchi
Subway train after the Linc ceremony
William Penn on City Hall
New Comcast building (with miniature William Penn statue to lift "the curse" on top of it)And here are two video's of the parade passing by that Duane caught...
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