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Published: April 23rd 2019
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Today we woke up with the sweet, sweet sense of freedom on many levels—not only is it the 4th of July in the city where it began, but we are also waking up in the Bike & Build home office with a rare day off! So rare, we don’t even know what to do with this freedom or lack of a planned schedule. So we mosey around and research celebrations in the city while figuring out what others plan to do with their day off. A group decides to go on the Chris Benson tour (I swear he’ll be mayor of Philly one day!), others decide to catch up on work and stay local, while I found a parade that goes right by Independence Hall! Originally I had planned on going home to see everyone at the Pitman parade and whatnot and see Mom for her 53rd birthday, but not wanting to put anyone out to come pick me up (though Donalee and others offered!) and knowing this would be one and only 4th of July in Philly with my Bike & Build team, I decided to hang with my team and do what I could not do any other 4th
of July. Since I love parades and want to show people around our city, I recruit Noah, Kristi, & Carly and we take a Lyft down to Old City to catch the parade by Independence Hall. We stuff the fanny pack full of snacks, throw on our American Flag Canadians from Annie’s bachelorette, and we’re on our way!
On the drive down, I chat with the driver while trying not to pinch myself that I’m with Bike & Build in my city while we drive on all too familiar roads. He drops us off, we walk past the Liberty Bell, and snag a few photos in front of Independence Hall taken by a kind couple visiting from out of town. I texted Courtney to see if her and the boys happened to be in the city so I could try to catch them, but they stayed in Gladwyne so looks like I have the whole day of freedom to spend with my team! We notice there’s free American spirited gear and set out on a mission to find it as we walk up and down Market and watch the parade. There’s bikes, kids decked out in their American spirit,
instruments and costumes of all kinds, people everywhere, and heat to keep us more than warm.
Giving up on finding the free swag, we start to walk through Old City towards Penn’s Landing. Dying of thirst and heat, we seek refuge at the Independence Seaport Museum where we find a water fountain, a bathroom, and AC, aka LIFE! We enjoy the cool air for a bit and lay on the ground. This is normal right? The passerbyers don’t think so and though you can take us out of the cycling clothes, you can’t take the exhausted cyclist out of us, not to mention the tendency to take over and lay around public places as if it’s normal. Rejuvenated, we set out and brave the heat once more, take a picture in the big red Philly chair, and walk past Spruce St Harbor Park. Wasn’t I just here with my aunts and their dog Sailor yesterday?! Half expecting to see them while wrapping my head around how weird life is and full circle it is, we start to walk up South Street.
All throughout the day I’m pointing out one thing after another and telling stories and sharing memories
about this beloved city I call home. We head to Jim’s for the real authentic Philly Cheesesteak experience and it certainly did not disappoint! My out of town, first time visiting Philly teammates definitely approve! ? We walk up South some more, past Condom Kingdom (what a philly he ??), past the trash to treasure gardens, and take more fun photos. We meet up with Jana and one of her Penn friends at a beer garden, but are denied access since one of our friends left their ID at the office ? Aiden and his girlfriend who is visiting from NY walk by and we all chat briefly before heading for Broad Street—more iconic Philly!
Our massive amount of walking continues down “The Road to Victory” and we meet up with Amanda and Sarah at La Colombe Coffee by City Hall. We enjoy delicious draft lattes as Amanda and I put together a scarvenger hunt for the team. Though we’re in separate spots all over the city, we figured this would be a fun way for us all to do something “together” since we’re been wanting to have a scav hunt the whole trip! GroupMe begins blowing up with
pictures and memes and seems like our friends bought into our idea and we all have fun roaming around and getting silly photos through the city. I’ve included a photo of all the photo tasks we had to complete—our group completing many of them!
We then meet up with Ryan and some others and begin striking out trying to find a place big enough to host us all for dinner without a long wait (lots of folks around this area of the city bc of the concert and festivities on the parkway!). We finally settle to crowd into a tight room upstairs with two tables pushed together as teammates join and leave the group. Noah heads back to the office and we all order beer and some food and enjoy some relaxation and chatting about our day so far before heading outside for the Parkway fesitivities. We try to stay together as a group, which proves difficult since there’s so many of us and so many people around. Safety triangles & holding hands for the win! We listen to some of the Pitbull concert as it turns darker and the crowded pushes in. I’m eager to see the fireworks
over the art museum with some of the team, but others are also eager to head back to the office since it will be tricky to get an affordable Uber for all of us, especially since we’re in the “peak” zone. We start walking along Pennsylvania Ave and catch the fireworks on the side of the museum while sitting on the corner and taking it all in together.
After the fireworks, we start trying to walk away from the “peak” zone but it indeed proves to be tricky to find an Uber, especially since we have 7 girls ? Our first Uber cancels and we eventually are able to get another one after much more walking and giving up on the buses. Exhausted and feet hurting, the Uber arrives, but is smaller than expected. Being Bike & Build, we make it work (aka Sarah and I cram in the trunk of the mid size SUV & 4 girls squeeze in the back seat). The lady driver was kind and got us safely home to the home office. I bust out the left over half of my Italian hoagie before cuddling up into my sleeping bag where the street light
shines through the large front window. Though crammed for space here, there’s no one I’d rather be crammed for space than these wonderful humans ❤️
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