The Fourth in Philly

Wow, so much has been going on and with limited time for blogging, I'm very backed up! But first things first, the 4th of July or better known as Bf's birthday. I think this is such a cool day to have a birthday - its in the summer, there's always something fun to do, and its a holiday! I don't think I need to remind you but I love holidays and the 4th of July has recently become one that wasn't very exciting. Of course when I was younger we would dress up in our best red, white and blue combo and picnic with our family. But since college I've been somewhat of a nomad on this day. I could be found shopping, going out to eat/cooking, and ending the night with a movie. No fireworks. No grilling. No fruit flag desserts.
But this year was going to be different. Bf is a fourth of July baby who was born in, where else but Philadelphia. So we had a day planned around the Welcome America celebration that was being held throughout the city. Some of the activities to choose from this week long celebration included outdoor movies, food festivals, two fireworks shows, music performances by the Roots, an Independence Day parade, and more.
We had a few things on our list, the first was watching Rocky on the Art Museum steps. We actually put this on our list during the winter because this was the site of our first date. I think we both weren't sure what to expect so we played it safe when getting ready. We had dinner at home, grabbed some water and a beach towel and ran out the door. We were pleasantly surprised to see an extreme variety of people that covered every step and landing on the front of the Art Museum. There were families, couples, singles, and teenagers, who were sitting in chairs, lounging on blankets, eating and drinking (some with wine or beer). And occasionally you would see the random tourist running up or down the steps.

You could feel the anticipation in the air as we all prepared to watch this classic movie. Our seats were facing a big screen on the sidewalk and when the Rocky theme song started playing during the opening credits, the crowd let out a cheer. This was my first time seeing this movie and I liked it more than I thought. A roar went through the crowd during the part that he runs up the steps of the Art Museum. And when he turned around to face the city, he was looking at the same view we were. It was an amazing experience. As you know, I love living in Philadelphia and on this night I really felt like I belonged there among all the Philadelphians.

We arrived just before the sun set and we had an incredible view of the city

On July 4, we had a full day planned so we got started early. After a birthday breakfast and opening an awesome gift, we walked over to Independence Hall to check out the parade. This was my first parade in the city and it brought back memories of all the ones we were in while growing up in our small town. Our grandfather or "Pap" was either driving his antique car or pulling us in one of his floats. His most famous creation was a replica train that he pulled with his truck. Unfortunately I have no images of these floats but here are some from Philly's 4th of July parade.

The parade was so culturally diverse, it represented all kinds of Americans

The birthday boy!

The next thing on our list was an all you can eat ice cream festival. Yes, you read that correctly. We were both really looking forward to this. Unfortunately I woke up not feeling too great so as we walked down to Penn's Landing, I was calculating the pros and cons of this decision. Once outside, I let Bf know that I couldn't do it but would gladly pay and accompany him.  Surprisingly he declined this offer. Now, if this was me, I would have gone in without thinking twice. Does this say something about how much we each love sweets or about our individual character? I'd like to think its because I'm a self-proclaimed chocoholic.
After a little nap I was feeling better and ready for dinner. You may be asking yourself who falls asleep on their boyfriend's birthday? Yeah. I know. After some apologies we got ready for dinner. Bf chose Chifa for his birthday meal. It was a unique marriage of Chinese and Peruvian cuisine. The restaurant was cool and quiet, with a curtain between us and the next table, allowing for a romantic meal. Our food was delicious and we were both full and happy when we started towards the fireworks.

The finale to our day was, of course, the fireworks being set off at the Art Museum. We weren't prepared to get into the huge crowd that formed along the parkway so we found a nice spot by City Hall. Even though we were some distance away, it was a beautiful place to view the show.

I hope your Fourth was filled with as much laughter, love and fireworks as mine was!