Curses, I missed the best part of Welcome America–watching Rocky on the steps of the Art Museum. For those who don’t know, Welcome America is Philly’s annual Fourth of July festival. During the week leading up to the big day, we eat ice cream, watch movies, eat hoagies, see concerts, eat food from the grill, and watch fireworks (schedule) . So what if we’re the fourth fattest city in the nation?
Other happenings:
- Tall ships. To be honest, I was not overwhelmed by these tall ships when they were here in 2000. However, I cannot deny that they are tall.
- Red, white, and blue skyline. Philadelphia’s skyline usually turns patriotic during Welcome America, but this year most buildings remain dark as part of a “lights out” feud between building owners and the city. The owners are angry over a pending Keystone Opportunity Zone tax break that will encourage Comcast to build a high rise in Center City.
- Arts on the Avenue. Music, dance, and crafts from City Hall to Spruce Street on Wednesday night, June 30th.
- Liberty medal. The 2004 Philadelphia Liberty Medal goes to Hamid Karzai. Remember last year when we almost killed Sandra Day O’Connor during the award ceremony? Better luck this year–offing the president of Afghanistan would probably have some bad international repercussions.
Aw, crap. I love watching that at the Art Museum. At least TBS (or some station like that) is showing them each night this week. Tonight is Rocky III and all I can say is any movie with both Mr. T and Hulk Hogan in it is a classic!
And don’t worry about the prez of Afghanistan. If anything happens we can always offer them John Street as compensation (but I guess that would be mean).
Becky, will you go to the fireworks with me?
Becky as part of the 4th of July fireworks here in Hoptown our local newspaper showed a picture of Veteran’s Stadium imploding. (This is for real). The folks who blew up (or down) your stadium happen to be from a little town in Tennessee about 70 miles from here.
They started their craft at demolition derbies with old cars and worked their way up to stadiums. A touching story.
Did you go with Clair?
Philip