Sea of Red

On Halloween the city of Philadelphia celebrated the victory of our World Series Champions. Our city was so starved for a celebration of such kind, not to mention it was a perfect fall day of 61 degrees, that over 2 million people filled the streets dressed in red, chanting and cheering.
We decided to take the boys to the celebration so that, if nothing else, later in life they can say they were there. We let them play hooky from school due to a case of Phillies Phever, dressed in our Phillies gear, and packed a days worth of snacks and toys. We planned on taking the train, and the boys were excited to ride their first choo choo. Only it seems all 2 million people heeded the advice of the media to use public transportation and the trains were so crowded you could not get on and they were hours behind. We decided to drive, hit no traffic and got to town in less time than it takes in the middle of the night.




Once in the city we put the boys in the stroller and headed to Broad Street.
It seemed like any normal day in the city, but as the blocks ascended and Broad Street drew closer you could feel the energy and hear the noise. We parked ourselves in front of the Capital Grille, between Chestnut and Sansom Streets and awaited the frenzy.


Todd, Erik, and Dave took turns, two at a time, heading into the bar for a beer or cocktail. They were kind enough to have one of them stay with me and the boys most of the time. Although Ryder did have his first bar experience when all three of the grown boys needed to have the last drink of the day together.

Ryder also had his first taste of body surfing when, in an attempt to get back to our spot, the overcrowded corner of Broad and Chestnut had the guys deliberately navigating through an excited crowd and Todd held his two year old above his head, as if Ryder was flying. Not surprisingly, our little dare-devil loved it.
At our spot we just waited. Surrounded by excited but respectful people, we watched as red filled the streets. We listened as horns blew. And, we cheered as shouts echoed.

Chase and Ryder were so good. They seemed to enjoy the frenzy and only had a minor breakdown of about five minutes each throughout the entire day. Though we did go through most of the snacks and juices, I never had to break out one toy.


And then at about 12:40PM , as indicated by the eruption of millions of simultaneous screams, the parade turned the corner at Broad Street and we got to see our beloved Phils.
Atop the shoulders of the guys, Chase and Ryder were able to see "the phanatic on the truck" as they say, which made the whole experience worthwhile for them.


I did not get to see much but the energy I felt was worth the trip. In fact, it left me wanting to do it all again in 2009.

Let's Go Phils!