PHILLY:New In The City

7/04/2012: The 4th of July

                Yesterday it was hot. The temperature was over 100 degrees but that didn't stop us from going out and participating in Philadelphia's 4th of July activities. My roommates and I stayed cooled in our dorm until lunch time. Then when went outside to a barbeque, that was held by the dorm. It was really warm already and once we got our food we sat down in the shade of trees. Stilling in the grass was cool but it also left grass marks on my bare legs. Some people were playing Frisbee and we watched them as we ate our food.

                Once we were fed and hydrated we made a plan to go back upstairs to collect our things and then head out to the downtown where there was a food, games, music, and anything a good festival needs. We went with a big group of about 10 - 15 people so it took some time to get us all organized and ready but we headed off downtown.

                When we arrived there we found this guy who told jokes for money. A couple of us pitched in a couple dollars and he told us some jokes. It was a pretty good idea and he told some good jokes but he kept asking us to give him a news topic to make jokes about. We were all put off guard that we would actually have to help him make his jokes. When he left he handed each of us a card that had a joke on it, which was pretty nice.

                By the time we got there and walked around for a little bit we decided to just go find a place to sit for the concert. This took a little bit but we ended up finding a nice grass spot to sit. We did it just in time too because soon many people had the same idea and the whole surrounding area was packed. We took turns going to get food. Most of us just got snacks because the intense heat lessened our appetites.

                By sundown Queen Latifah did the opening act. She was hard to hear but we didn't mind. The concert continued. I went up close to the fence around the actually ticketed seats for a rapper I didn't know. Also a bunch of us went to dance and jam to Hall from Hall&Oats. We danced hard to "You Make My Dreams Come True" (the only song I really know by them). During one of the earlier acts some woman gave two of the people in our group her tickets for the show so they got to go in and sit.

                When the concert was over they started fireworks. I went back to get our stuff and we watched the fireworks in a baseball field behind where we were sitting. Then we walked home gross and exhausted. It was a fun day but I desperately wanted a shower.