Saw Punxytawney Phil this weekend. Let me assure you that if you haven't waited for hours in sub-freezing temperatures with 25,000+ other loons in order to see a dozen old white guys in tuxedos and top hats talk to a groundhog about the weather, you haven't lived. The whole thing is pretty cute--it's just a silly event that has been hyped into something pretty big. The whole town is decorated in groundhogs and you've never seen so many groundhog souvenirs in your life. For an illustration of both--this is me and my friend Beth, who grew up in the Punxy area:
We did not get particularly close to the stage (since we got up there at 6am instead of earlier. There were fireworks and marriage proposals and all sorts of crazy ass traditions and then Phil was dragged out of the stump in the middle of the stage and plopped on top where he proceeded to tell the President of the Inner Circle which scroll to read. We are, as I'm sure you've heard, going to have 6 more weeks of winter. At which point we all trundled off into the snow to go eat pancake breakfasts at one of the local lodges (we chose the Masons because the line at the Eagles lodge was too long. . .). After wandering around looking at the various groundhog paraphenalia, we took off to a local winery and had lunch at a really nice local cafe. We did not get into the official souvenir shop until Sunday (because the lines were so long), but that worked out for the best since we met the official handler who was carting around a sacked out Phil inside his winter coat. Talk about cute!!
I have to say that I think they got a new Phil this year, because he was awfully damn small for a grown groundhog and the handler admitted that he was carting him around to get him used to different places. Of course, the legend contends that Phil is immortal (something about Groundhog Brew) so noone would discuss it with me, but I think I'm on to something. It was good to see Beth's family, too, I hadn't seen them in a long time.
Overall, it's good to get away for a road trip occasionally, even when (or especially when) it entails going for an entirely silly event.
We did not get particularly close to the stage (since we got up there at 6am instead of earlier. There were fireworks and marriage proposals and all sorts of crazy ass traditions and then Phil was dragged out of the stump in the middle of the stage and plopped on top where he proceeded to tell the President of the Inner Circle which scroll to read. We are, as I'm sure you've heard, going to have 6 more weeks of winter. At which point we all trundled off into the snow to go eat pancake breakfasts at one of the local lodges (we chose the Masons because the line at the Eagles lodge was too long. . .). After wandering around looking at the various groundhog paraphenalia, we took off to a local winery and had lunch at a really nice local cafe. We did not get into the official souvenir shop until Sunday (because the lines were so long), but that worked out for the best since we met the official handler who was carting around a sacked out Phil inside his winter coat. Talk about cute!!
I have to say that I think they got a new Phil this year, because he was awfully damn small for a grown groundhog and the handler admitted that he was carting him around to get him used to different places. Of course, the legend contends that Phil is immortal (something about Groundhog Brew) so noone would discuss it with me, but I think I'm on to something. It was good to see Beth's family, too, I hadn't seen them in a long time.
Overall, it's good to get away for a road trip occasionally, even when (or especially when) it entails going for an entirely silly event.
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Hope V-day was sweet for you, you got a very loving marriage.