Black Friday Midnight Madness

I ventured out to the Midnight Madness sale at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets on Black Friday. I knew we were in for a wild night but had no idea how bad the traffic would be. I feel sorry for people who lived near the mall and hope they had no place to go.

Here's my Photo Story:

I took a picture of myself standing on the corner at 11:30 waiting for my friend Mariana to pick me up. Yes, I felt a little trampy standing on a corner after dark.

Ridge Pike near the Limerick Airport. It was bumper to bumper for about 3 miles. Route 422 was even worse.

Mariana in her car. I enjoyed getting out and walking a bit. I needed to stretch my legs.

The clock said 12:53, nearly and hour and a half after Mariana picked me up.


And at 12:53 we were still waiting to get in the parking lot for the mall.

So close, yet so far.

I can almost touch it, but we still had another half hour til we were out of the car.


Tow trucks were taking away cars that were illegally parked. You can imagine how the tow trucks added to the congestion.


More parking messes.


This was 2:30 am. People were everywhere, but it was very civil.

Mariana LOVES this picture! This is proof that you were there girlfriend.

This was the wait at Starbucks at 3:00 am. I think Starbucks and the tow company made the most money that night.

3:09 am and finally back in our car. The ride home was smooth sailing. We saw a couple dozen open parking spaces as we left, but it was still pretty crowded.

I'm glad we went and I did have fun. We circled the whole mall but I didn't buy much. I walked in KB Toys hoping to pick up a few things but immediately turned around. Mariana lasted five minutes longer than me. It was just too packed. I also went in the Osh Kosh store and found and couple great deals but couldn't see myself waiting in a half hour line for children's socks, underwear and mittens.

We went in the Columbia store hoping to pick up a couple sweaters or shirts for Matty, but their inventory was lacking. It almost seemed like an after Christmas sale. Very disappointing, but I guess that's how retail stores are staying afloat.

The highlight of the evening had to be the near riot in the parking lot. After driving around for a half hour we spotted a couple just leaving the mall and walking to their car. We asked them if we could drive them and steal their parking spot. They said they'd walk but we should follow and they'd save it for us. You can imagine how the other cars waiting for spots felt to see us drive right up. One car got really angry and I thought they were going to plow right into us. I had to get out and stand in front of their car so Mariana could park. It got ugly.