I Saw The Lights!

 Today I woke up to a horrible phone call from my friends in California, I was kinda happy they called even though they were rude and called me at 7 am. I went back to sleep and got up at 9:35. I goot ready and went downstairs by 10 as told by John. I was feeling a bit sleepy but nonetheless I was feeling great! We had a little meeting and went to 30th station which was on 30th street. We took the train down to 2nd street and it was a very different experience than that to taking Bart or Muni in the bay. The stops were much closer together and they were much quicker.

And So Begins Another Wonderful Day Without Sunshine!

Once we got to 2nd street we were all hungry and ready to eat! We found a diner and had a very lovely breakfast. As soon as we exited the diner the parade passed by! We changed plans and stayed to watch the whole parade, it was my first time watching a 4th of July parade and it was awesome! We saw everything from a wawa sponsored floats to all the fire trucks in Philadelphia. Although it rained through most of the parade we had a lot of fun and even danced with some people that were in the parade! The fun didn't end there, we then went to see Benjamin Franklin's home although it wasn't there there was an outline of where it would have been and we saw the excavation of the original house. We then walked through the historical parts of Philadelphia and saw many places that were old and beautiful as well as important like the first continental congress building or the first American bank building. We went to try to see the liberty bell but the line would have taken ages to end so we just waited and listened the 13 rings today. They sounded wonderful and smooth with a low tone. We walked to the mall where we explored and then headed back to the hotel, on our way to the hotel john asked if we wanted to eat Philly cheese stakes and we all agreed to go get some. It we switched trains though what seemed like a maze and got to the right spot right away.

There is Beauty in Everything

Broken up Panoramic

The Fresh Prince of Bell Air was Right! Philly Cheese Stakes are The Best!

The stakes were no joke, they were scrumptious! We finished relatively fast and headed back to the hotel. It didn't take long even though we missed the second train when we transferred, they only take about 5 minutes to pass. We got to our hotel and had 3 hours to ourselves, I spent that time by going swimming for half of it and then coming back to work out a little before taking a shower. I then watched Netflix till it was time to leave. We left and walked across the bridge and at the side of the river. When we were passing by the river john told us that there were fireflies there. I looked but didn't see anything yet until the whole grass area was lit up by three radiant green lights that dashed up and sideways on top of the grass. It was beautiful and it was followed by more shinning green lights the whole grass area was filled with them! I saw the lights and everything else and it was all so very beautiful. 

John and I being silly

We continued walking to the concert and took a bathroom break before we entered the most crowded area. The concert was fun and exiting although I don't know all of the songs that were played and couldn't make sense of most of the lyrics. We all had fun for a while and then headed back to see the fireworks that were supposed to take place at 10:30. It wasn't that way but we got to hang out with each other as group for a bit longer. As we were giving up hope and started walking back we heard a loud sound wave and looked back at various stripes of light. The fireworks had begun! The show was amazing there were happy faces and even an "A". It went on for about half an hour and the last part light up the whole area, it was like a rain of multi-colored lights making the atmosphere happy and cheerful as well as beautiful.

Our Cohort!

We ended our night with a slice of pizza and we were all exhausted. Once I got to my room I turned off all the lights, put music on, said goodnight to my loved ones and worked on my blog but fell asleep before finishing. What a great way to spend America's birthday!!!

Happy 4th!!!