I Love Philly!

Thursday I began my trek to Philadelphia, the city I love! It's not just the teams I adore, although I definitely love the teams, but there's so much; the hustle of life's pace, the food, the people, the history....I love it all.

Anyway, I'm always glad to be back in the city.

Thursday was incredible because Jamie Cunard got us tickets to the Flyers game, so I made the trip out there for one of the most incredible experiences of my life! The seats were in a sky box, so there were comfy chairs, a great view, and lots of food.

The game itself was incredibly exciting, and it was awesome to be a part of the "home" crowd. I've been to Flyers games at Mellon Arena and cheered on my team in a hostile environment, but not since pre-season 1995 have I been at a Flyers home game, let alone in a playoff environment. Every time we scored, the place went berserk...it was, in the words of my friend, Matt Mills, ELECTRIC!!!

After the game, Jamie and I walked around taking pictures, and checking out the arena. Then we went outside and waited to see the players drive out, and tried to score some autographs. The only ones who stopped were Riley Cote and the team owner, Ed Snyder. it was also my privilege to "boo" the Penguin's team buses as they left the arena.

View all of my photos of the game here.

Friday, I met with a friend from college, Bruce Cox. Bruce is a church-planter near Wilmington, Delaware, and he pastors Milltown Community Church. It was very interesting to hear about the church's origins, and even to hear about some of the joys and disappointments of starting a church from the ground up. Bruce and Pam are doing great work, and I hope at some point we can work together on something.

After lunch with Bruce, I went to visit the Cunards at The Worship Center in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. This was actually the first church I served as a youth pastor after college, and the Cunard family have always been close friends to us. We hung out for a while, before I had to leave to go down to the city to take pictures of a parking meter (long story...not worth hearing.)

As I finished taking my pictures, I got in my car and realized it was 6:30 PM, and that in only 30 minutes, the Phillies would be throwing the first pitch at Citizen's Bank Park. Jamie Cunard told me that he was going to the game, and the more I thought about it, what a shame it would be to be there at that time, and not see the Fightin' Phils. So...I called Jodi and she agreed that I should go.

It was an amazing game, as the Phillies won 10-3 over the Blue Jays (interleague play) and the Phillies center-fielder, Jayson Werth hit 3 home runs, including a GRAND SLAM right over our heads! It was very cool to be there, even in the rain.

View all of my photos of the game here.

After the game, it was time to drive home, but not before stopping for water ice at Italiano's in South Philly and then over to Geno's for cheesteaks. I drove all night and arrived home on Saturday AM in time for Jacki's soccer game. The perfect plan!

Thanks to Jamie for an amazing couple of days. Seriously one of the best couple of days of my life.

As I finish typing, the Pens have just beat the Flyers in the final game of the series. Congrats to Pens fans.

Go Redwings. I'm definitely a sore loser.