Author: roxyjaine

A Philadelphia Story

As a so-called “a Philly native” by my friends, I know a lot of the ins and outs of the city. While most first impressions of Philly are the iconic food or the way people talk, yet for me Philly is home, and when you are in my house we have to get one thing straight if we’re watching football we’re rooting for the eagles.

I will never forget the day I went down to the Eagles parade after they just had won the Super Bowl in 2017. It’s hard to believe it was already 3 years ago, but I still remember like it was yesterday. I was a junior in high school, and because of the traffic the parade was going to produce, we had off of school that day, so like everyone else my friends and I decided to go down to the parade.

We figured the smartest option we would do was take the train down to the center city and walk to a spot along the parade route. Living in Warminster, the train line started right in our town so it was perfect. Another friend of ours pre-bought train tickets because they sold out quickly when news spread to go to the parade.

That Thursday morning, we were all up bright and early, My friends Matt, Keenan, and Jess went with me on this crazy journey. When I said early, I left my house at 4:00 in the morning to get to the first train leaving the station. We got to the station and there was a line that ended about a mile away. So we did not make the first train but we got on the third train and we did not even sit on the train we were standing in the aisle.

Who would have thought something like winning the super bowl would draw in a crowd this chaotic? After what seemed like an eternity we finally got to center city. The first thing we did was stop at my family’s cheesesteak place, Steves Prince of Steaks to grab something to eat. We ate cheesesteaks at 9 AM and as absurd as that sounds that is the only real meal we got to eat all day.

The energy was contagious. People of all ages and all races were all one family that day and everyone you talked to was an instant friend. It almost felt like we were walking in circles before we found a good spot along the parade route. We stood there for hours, dancing and singing and celebrating our win. 

I remember texting my dad that day feeling bad he could not come to the parade, and asking him a bunch of questions about directions and where to go. In a sort reply, all he said was “send pictures and selfies, I can live it through you” with a heart after it. I was proud to be there celebrating in my hometown, for my team! I’m sure my dad did live vicariously through the pictures I sent him that day, and it made him proud that I was out there having fun celebrating a sport he has waited his whole life for this moment.

The day came and went. It was very cold, but my spirit was warmed with the love of Philly pride. This day will be forever engraved in my memory, and I hope that one day, I can relive this day all over again.

A little place I like to call home

There is something about hometowns that always sets one town apart from another. One specific thing that residents alike could relate to. My Hometown is Warminster, Pennsylvania, founded in 1685 located in Bucks County PA. So you could imagine all the small historic trips we took in elementary school. We took almost what seemed like a trip once a month. With its history though we don’t get much traffic with tourists. A key experience that seems a little different then the rest though is our hometown diners. “The West” we like to call it but it’s just called Warminster West which is a very popular spot where everyone can seem to relate too. Both the high school the public and the private ones all have the same plan when it comes to after school events, is to grab a group of your closest friends and head over to the diner. The high school rivalry had its common ground though, Archbishop wood students and William Tennent students alike could all agree on this one spot to go.

Nothing was better than after school dance walking into a diner dressed up, and all the nice waitresses complimenting how nice we all looked and taking us in as if we were their own grandchildren. My go-to was to always get a vanilla milkshake and some onion rings after a dance. Why? Because it was cheap and for some reason, I would always get that. 

Since there is much to do around Warminster, our options as teens and kids to keep us occupied was to walk around to random stores and ride our bikes around. So most of the time plans were made to go to the diner and just hang out. This seems weird to think about that most teens would get their enjoyment out of going to diners, but surprisingly it is just something we all do.

After the checks were paid after giggling at nonsense for hours, we would say our farewells and call it a night. Most of the time going thereafter the school events was better than the event itself. I remember one dance I went to sophomore year of high school, I wasn’t having a good time and I just wanted to leave the dance early. My best friend, Danny, who is still my best friend to this day still convinced me to go the diner with all of our friends. And you know what? I am so glad I did. Having the waitress say how pretty I looked and that I didn’t look trashy but I had some sense of class really changed my mood. I once again ordered a milkshake and onion rings, and remember my belly hurt from laughing so hard with my friends. That was the cure that I needed. The laughs with friends you seem to remember the most.  

I am sad that I am no longer in high school to have that same feeling of going to the diner after an event, but from time to time, my friends and I will decide to share a quick bite catching up reliving our times in high school at the beloved place we have all equally grown to love.

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With virtual experiences growing more and more popular each and every day, at a time like this in a global pandemic it has never been easier to stay connected and occupied. Being in quarantine has been a weird confusing time for everyone. With a stay at home orders from all over the world, businesses, attractions, and tourist landmarks have been required to close until further notice.

 Landmarks such as the Effiel Tower being left closed and abandoned until restrictions lighten up. Luckily if you really wanted to see it right away you can take a virtual tour of it online, but is it the same? The virtual tour lets you walk around the different levels of the Effiel tower and see what it is like to look out over Paris. The only thing that its missing is the atmosphere of life.

There are no people in the walkthrough. When I went to see the Eiffel Tower part of the experience was walking all the way up to the top, that feeling of exhaustion and amazement that you were just able to walk all the way up the Eiffel Tower. When we got the first level stop it was so crowded you had to wiggle your way through people just to get a good picture.