Finally, Philly has a weekend to just chill

And on the 15th day of February, Philadelphia exhaled.

For several weeks, the city endured a nonstop pendulum swing of emotion, a period of intense sorrow and elation that culminated Friday, when hundreds of thousands of people filled sidewalks, streets, and trees to cheer an Eagles Super Bowl parade for just the second time in the franchise’s history.

On Saturday, gray skies and several damp hours of snowflakes and rain seemed to demand a needed break in the perpetual activity.

The emotional whiplash has been disorienting, Jordan Gravely said as she and her husband, Dominic Muttel, went for a winding morning walk with their border collie-husky mix, Buddy, to Reanimator Coffee at Third and Master Streets, where they sipped hot coffee and shared pretzel shortbread cookies.

“I’ve noticed the exhaustion in my body,” said Gravely, who added that she has been doing more yoga to help take stock of all the feelings swirling in her brain.

She and Muttel spent Friday watching the parade along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where they sat in awe of the long procession of team buses, and the friendliness of the crowd. The couple had moved to Philadelphia from Denver three years ago.

“It was the largest [scene of] collective joy we’ve ever seen,” Gravely said. “We’re still getting our footing here, but the last few weeks made me realize Philly is the kind of place where we want to experience everything, the good and the bad.”

This particular stretch of civic extremes began Jan. 26, when the Eagles hosted the NFC championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Worries about a young Washington Commanders team emerging with an upset victory proved unnecessary; the Eagles executed a flawless 55-23 victory and earned a trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX.

In the hours after the championship game, gleeful fans swarmed Broad Street and mounted trash trucks. But the celebration was marred by multiple acts of violence. An allegedly intoxicated driver plowed into a crowd of fans at Broad and Spring Garden, injuring at least eight people. A fan was stabbed, another person grazed by bullets.

And an 18-year-old Temple University student who climbed a pole near City Hall tumbled to the ground and later died from his injuries.

Less than a week later, on Jan. 31, a Learjet medical transport crashed in Northeast Philadelphia, just moments after it had taken off from a nearby airport. All six people aboard the plane were killed, including Valentina Guzmán Murillo, an 11-year-old girl from Mexico who had spent four months undergoing treatment for a spinal condition at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia.

Flames from the crash engulfed a car that was driven by Steven Dreuitt, who had just visited the Macy’s store at Roosevelt Mall. Dreuitt, 37, of Mount Airy, was killed; his fiancee and his 9-year-old son, who were riding in the car with him, were critically injured.

The city’s heartache was momentarily eased by the Eagles last Sunday, when the team orchestrated a stunning, and convincing, 40-22 Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

And on Friday, Valentine’s Day took a back seat to the Eagles' four-hour-long victory procession from Pattison Avenue up Broad Street and across the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where speeches — and celebratory F-bombs — abounded from the team. Fans again lined the streets, and school was canceled so the city’s children could soak in all the triumph.

» READ MORE: The Eagles’ Super Bowl parade is a daylong party as Philadelphians express their love for the Birds

Caitlin Bowden took her dog on a stroll through Palmer Park to clear her mind Saturday.

“This whole week feels like there’s been no rules,” said Bowden, 34. “It’s made me prouder of my city. Like when people talk [crap], I’m ready to fight.”

Bowden is leaving for a weeklong vacation in Honolulu starting Sunday to manage her overwhelm. She opted out of the major celebrations to instead be close with her family, who is grieving the loss of Bowden’s grandfather, a major Eagles fan who died over the summer.

“I never noticed that with celebrations there’s this weird grieving moment. You’re excited, but you’re also thinking about the people who aren’t with you,” said Bowden, who watched Super Bowl LIX with her grandmother in Ocean City, N.J.: “She made us watch all this season’s games for him.”

Some Eagles fans staged another parade Saturday, complete with saxophones, trumpets, and plenty of green gear — albeit in London. This (admittedly smaller) procession was led by Passyunk Avenue, a dive bar that has become a haven for Philly fans overseas.

In South Philadelphia, metal barriers remained on Broad Street, but there was otherwise little evidence that the thoroughfare had recently hosted a massive Super Bowl celebration.

Security guards were posted, however, at Lincoln Financial Field, where a long line of customers formed outside the team’s pro shop. (Eagles fans had already reportedly purchased a record amount of Super Bowl merchandise.)

Fat snowflakes and a brooding winter sky did little to chill anyone’s enthusiasm.

“We got what we came for!” said Lillian Cormany of West Philadelphia, holding aloft a bag of freshly purchased mementos.

Whit Hunter of Newtown Square decided to visit the stadium along with some relatives who had traveled from Maine to attend the Super Bowl parade.

“It’s probably good that it’s a long weekend,” Hunter said, alluding to Presidents' Day on Monday.

The quieter vibes might linger. Heavy rains and high winds are projected for the rest of the weekend, and meteorologists have started to whisper about the possibility of a midweek snowstorm.