This week we teamed up with @visitphilly to get ready for July 4th in our Instagram Challenge #PPStarsAndStripes. We asked you to share your stars; stripes; and anything red, white, and blue to start heralding in America’s 239th birthday.

Thanks to everyone who participated and brought out their U.S. pride with a special thanks to our guest judges @billycress and @kellysmithphoto! And congratulations to this week’s honorable mentions (left to right, starting top-left): @mcnicholgabrielle, @ericmueller, @jfranshager, @eyes_of_eleni, @mhsar, @cheshna, @ben_c_krause, @han_amelia, and @dannielladawn.

Congratulations to this week’s potential winner @neekmason who will be traveling to Philadelphia with a friend to spend Independence Day touring the city, staying at the @loewshotels, and watching the fireworks!

July of last year I was in Buffalo, New York, in the middle of wedding season hanging out and exploring. Now that I’ve been in Portland since November, I’m excited to be returning home this July and hopefully to Philadelphia to see friends. An East Coast reunion would be tight (I’m saying tight; I definitely live on the West Coast now).

Visit Philadelphia® makes Philadelphia and The Countryside® a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases the number of visitors, the number of nights they stay and the number of things they do in the five-county area. On their official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip-planning tools.