Thanksgiving Day Parade 2012

This year Dave and I went in to town on Wednesday to spend the night. We had reservations at the Hilton Garden Inn at the Convention Center complex. We took the train in Wednesday morning. Our first stop was the Franklin Institute to see the IMax movie "The Rocky Mountain Express" about the building of the transcontinental railroad in Canada.


It was a beautiful day.
Here is the view from the FI steps



Dave getting his street vendor cheesesteak.
He says they are way better than Pat's OR Geno's.



We went to the Wannamakers (aka Macy's). The light show was all set up but not operating until Friday. We stayed to listen to the pipe organ for a little bit then went over to the Comcast Center. Their 2012 show doesn't start until Thanksgiving Day but we were treated to last year's show. We tried to go back after the parade but the next show would have made us late for our return train.

Thankful for Wawa coffee at 4:30 a.m. !!

Our balloon assignment for 2012. I was given a jacket and hat
rather than a jumpsuit. I was balloon captain this year. Not
sure which job I prefer. I'll have to think about that before next year.

Our crew (plus about 20 other handlers) took care of the
Snowman Balloon this year.
 

This is me and Chris, our ballon rep. He is from Louisville,

Kentucky. He was excited to be in Philly for the first time.

On Friday his group heads to Santiago, Chile for a parade there.

But before he leaves he planned to run the Rocky Steps. Not today

though. They were a little bit occupied today.

It was a gorgeous day for a parade. For more photos go here.