Last week when someone found out I went to the Eagles parade, they excitedly said, “I hope you write a story about it.”

My initial thought was: I really didn’t have a whole lot of good things to say ...

As a few days have since gone by, my tune has changed. I’m very glad I went despite the frustration of waiting hours in the cold for trains.

My barometer for this event was the Phillies parade from Halloween of 2008, which included a front-row seat along Broad Street and perhaps the best sports moment of my life. Back in 2008, we left the Lansdale train station at 5 a.m. and got to the city after 6 a.m. and you would have never known there was going to be a parade that day. It was dark and no one was on the streets. The barriers weren’t even set up yet.

Fast forward to last Thursday and it was a different story. And sure, we should have known better, trying to use the same routine from 2008. This one was going to be much bigger.

We again arrived in Lansdale around 5 a.m. only to find two, huge lines of people. The first train left at 5:15 a.m., which we obviously didn’t make. At that point, it was game over.

The next train didn’t leave until 6:40 and shortly after that the station supposedly added an extra train that we were able to get on, which departed around 7 a.m. We got into the station in Philadelphia after 8:30 a.m. and needing to use the bathroom, we didn’t get out into the city until around 9 a.m. - way too late.

When we found a spot, we were about 25 rows back from the street at 15th and JFK which was right at City Hall. This was about 10 a.m., and with the parade starting at 11 a.m., we all assumed an 11:45 a.m. arrival. We assumed wrong.

It was a slow moving parade, and for good reason. This wasn’t something the team wanted to rush through. It wasn’t until nearly 1 p.m. did the parade finally make it to us at City Hall. That’s a lot of standing around with arms straight down packed in an endless sea of people. Occasionally, some late-arrivals tried to make their way to the front, they weren’t treated very kindly. Both men and women next to us were using the street as a bathroom. I later heard there was one porta potty for every 9,000 parade-goers.

When the parade did arrive, 25 rows of people all put their hands and cellphones in the air to take photos. I could only do the same, and hope for the best. That was probably the most disappointing part to me about the whole day - my lack of photos.

When the 10 minutes of parade was over, it was mobs of people rushing everywhere in garbage-filled streets. We got back to the train station and waited about 20 minutes in a line we eventually found out was the wrong line. Then it was another mass of people trying to get to the right spot. When we found that spot, that line was over three blocks long.

We waited three hours to get on a train to go home, most of that time was outside in the cold. Arguments broke out between adults and a group of high school kids accused of letting their friends cut in line. How quickly the togetherness of the city disappeared.

We got back to Lansdale about 6 p.m. and I was home by 7:30 p.m.

If there is one thing you can learn about me from this column it’s that I am obviously good at complaining. The plan in my head didn’t work out as expected, but after really thinking about it, it was no one’s fault but our own. We could have left earlier. We should have left earlier. We should have avoided public transportation.

As we approach the one-week anniversary of the parade, I actually couldn’t be happier with my decision to go. Every day that has passed has made me realize just how spectacular, amazing and historic these kind of events are.

Even though it was a bit of a rough time, had I not gone, the image in my head would have been one of a perfect opportunity I missed out on, and I’m not sure I could have ever forgiven myself.

Despite all the speeches by the players proclaiming this is the new normal for the Eagles, there are certainly no guarantees. This very well could have been a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The best part is, I can say I was there.