Everyone at some point in their lives really needs to experience a CIRCUS! At the age of 29, I experienced my first circus this past weekend! Hearing that the circus was in town and knowing that I had never before been to a circus, Josh decided to get us tickets for Saturday evenings show!

Saturday was a great day! We had my cousin’s daughters 1st Birthday Party to attend in the afternoon and it ended up getting me ready for all the clowns I was about to see at the circus that evening. The theme of the party was circus related and there was a special appearance by “Gabby The Clown”! Gabby was a unique clown, dressed as one would expect a clown to dress and even had crazy wild red hair, she entertained the young and the old for well over an hour. From singing songs, to playing with a parachute, to face painting Gabby had everyone involved, and I do mean everyone! Josh and I left the party with red noses and my Dad left with his entire head painted, it was rather wild!

That evening Josh and I headed to the Spectrum for our evening under the “Big Top”! On the way we decided to stop at Chili’s for a quick bite to eat and still managed to arrive at the Spectrum with plenty of time to spare. Being that most events we attend are in the newer stadiums in Philly, both Josh and I could not recall the last time we were at the Spectrum. This left us both feeling how lucky we are to have 3 such nice stadiums in Philly that hold the majority of the events that interest us! As we walked inside the “Big Top” we were immediately greeted with vendors selling all the spinning lighted gadgets you can imagine. Less than 10 feet away was another vendor selling the exact same merchandise…this took place the entire circumference of the Spectrum. Having to dodge all the vendor stands was only the beginning of the adventure, we also had to dodge oodles of children some well behaved while others were like the majority of children are today – spoiled and not wanting to listen or pay attention to their surroundings. Josh and I do as we always do when put in this type of situation we made sure our “Patience Hats” were securely attached to our heads and started off to find our seats!

Our seats were incredible! We were 5 rows from everything! Forgetting how the Spectrum numbers their seating sections, Josh went with “Best Available Seating” which 2 days before a show you would think you would be in the nose bleed sections, nope, we lucked out! The best available were in Section 215! Figuring we would be up above the entertainment, Josh and I were both surprised to see we were going to be viewing everything only 5 rows away! The show started with a Grand Entrance of many animals, clowns, acrobats etc and continued on throughout the show. For over 2 hours there was non-stop entertainment. Some of my favorite parts of the night were the elephants, dogs, tight rope walkers, and of course “Bello” made the entire show entertaining! Bello is a clown who has his own special talents and a part of the show especially for him! VIP ticket holders were given “Bello Hair” and rode in a “Bello Train” while zillions of Bello look a likes danced and sang around (sound like a nightmare… it really wasn’t it was very very cute and well done), even the animals were given “Bello Hair”!!

My first circus experience was worth the wait of 29 plus years, it was very enjoyable and for those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to go to the circus, or have been given the opportunity and just have never been, I urge you to go the next time you are asked to accompany someone. No matter what your age, it is an entertaining and fun experience – You are never too old!!!