Going to the Ball

Yesterday, Tom Corbett was inaugurated as Pennsylvania's 46th Governor.  Last night I was able to go to the Governor's Inaugural Ball.  My husband and I went with State Representative Seth Grove and his wife, Kasey. 

We went to dinner first and then headed over to the ball.  When we arrived there were about 1,000 people there.  By the time the Governor's cabinet was introduced, the room was packed with 2-4,000 people.  We were over on the side platform talking with friends when the Mummers came out.  Being a Philadelphia gal, I was excited to see them!

The platform we were on was rather far away from the stage, as you can see in this next picture.  We saw Governor Corbett's cabinet introduced and then Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley and his wife were introduced.  They danced on stage then headed down to the crowd.  After they exited, Governor Tom Corbett and his wife were introduced.  They danced as well then headed down to mingle with the crowd standing below the stage.

At that point, with so many people in attendance, we figured we would not be able to see or speak to Governor Corbett.  We took a few pictures, including this one on the left, and just started enjoying the music and the friends.  It was quite a shock about 30 minutes later when a large crowd started to gather up on the platform where we were standing.  We looked over and not 10 feet from us was the Governor and his wife. 

Governor Corbett and Seth.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, my husband was able to find his way into the crowd and speak to Governor Corbett for a minute.  After they chatted, we decided to head down off the platform to check out the food.  There were several stations set up all around the room with foods from the different areas of Pennsylvania.  There were perogies from Central Pennsylvania, mushrooms from Southeastern Pennsylvania (my neck of the woods), candy apples from Northeastern Pennsylvania, and even a salad with steak and french fries on it from Southwestern PA.  We didn't get to try all of the different foods, but we did have some delicious cherries jubilee and cotton candy, along with some Hershey's hot chocolate.

After our tour of Pennsylvania foods, we decided to take a rest on the platform on the opposite side of the room.  Surprisingly enough, Governor Corbett decided to visit that platform while we were up there.  At this point, many of the attendees had left and the party was back down to about 1,500 people.  The crowd was considerably smaller surrounding the Governor and I decided to put myself out there so I could write this blog.  After all, what good is a blog post if you don't have some fun pictures?

Asking Governor Corbett for his picture.

Kasey Grove and I with Governor Corbett.

Mrs. Susan Corbett and myself.

The entire evening was wonderful.  I wish I could dress up and go out like this more often!  Congratulations Governor Corbett!  May you do well as Pennsylvania's 46th Governor.