Philadelphia Eagles Kick off Party 9-4-08 (edited)

So Thursday night was the official "kick off" to the begining of the NFL season! I was lucky enough to snag some free tickets that the Philadelphia Eagles were giving away online a few weeks back to go to their Kick Off Party. It sounded like a lot of fun, the band Everclear would be playing, it was free and a great excuse to wear some Eagles Green!

So, I ended up getting 6 tickets and invited my dad, his best friend Danny (who is basically an uncle to me), Ben's cousin Josh and my sister in law Tara. It worked out that Josh got his own tickets too so we tried to get another one of Ben's cousins to come but it didn't work out.

The evening started after I left work on Thursday. And thank goodness I left when I did and we were able to get on the road early because at about exit 8A I realized I had forgotten the tickets!!! So we had to turn around, go home and get the tickets and then head to south jersey again. Out the door went dinner at one of my fave places in the "free time" we would have had before meeting up with everyone. It ended up working out ok that we were still not late or anything so that was the highlight. There was a lot of back and forth about where and when to meet but we ended up picking my dad up first and then meeting the others at the Manor's parking lot. We had dropped off my sister in law's ticket because she had to wait for the babyistter and we weren't sure if she would meet us there or not but it worked out that she was able to just meet us there with the others.

It was about 6:15pm when we actually met everyone at the Manor. The event didnt' officially start until 7pm and so since I was starving and we opted to wait for Ben's cousin Josh and his friends too so we only had to take 2 cars to Philly. I was able to get some cheese fries to hold me over while most of the others had a few drinks to kick off the night. After Josh and his friends arrived we still waited awhile before leaving so they could have a drink or two. At this point I was getting a little antsy because it was already 7pm but I figured if we left soon we really wouldn't miss much.

By the time we got there it was already 7:30pm and as we pulled into the parking lot I could hear people talking from inside so I knew it had already started. Everyone wanted to tailgate a bit more but I wanted to get inside. Ultimately we didn't get inside until about 7:45 or so and by that time the players and Andy Reid and other related were finished. I was pretty disappointed with that because ultimately the stuff I cared most about I missed and the stuff some of the others were more interested in such as the free concert by Everclear wasn't missed and I didn't really care about that. So next year if I go, I am going early. Danny said he will go earlier with me, the rest can take their time:) LOL

Anyway, so once we got in we did go to the pro-shop and looked around for a while. I ended up picking up a book that was about the 75yr history of the Philadelphia Eagles. The author was there and so he signed it too which was cool. I even picked one up as a christmas gift for someone too!

After some shopping we all just sort of hung around, listened to the band when they started and enjoyed each other company. It was still a lot of fun and I am glad that we went and were all able to get together. At the closing of the night the band was available for photos and autographs so most of the people we were with waited in line for that. By the time we left it was after 10pm and since we still had to drive home that night so we didn't stay with the others for the afterparty.

Here are some photos from the night:

Philadelphia Eagles Stadium

My Dad and Danny

Everclear


Ben and his cousin Josh

Me and sister in law

Me and Danny

Ben and my Dad

Josh and I

The cousins...


We got home and it wasn't too late but it had definately been a long day. Good thing I took friday off from work!!