BELLINGHAM - They withstood rain, cold and long waits, and they did it all for the love of a good sandwich.
Hundreds of people showed up at the Logos Bible Software parking lot at lunchtime Tuesday, Jan. 31, with hopes of getting a sandwich from the Philly Boys Cheesesteaks truck.
The truck made a special one-day trip to Bellingham from its usual home in Seattle after much begging and pleading from the folks at Logos, some of whom are transplants from the City of Brotherly Love.
But the truck - actually a trailer the color of Cheez Whiz - drew more than just Logos employees, with a line snaking through the parking lot.
"I'm a transplanted northeasterner, so I had to come get a fix," said local glass artist Lisa Hanley. "This is what's so fun about Bellingham: doing these nutty things on a random Tuesday."
Logos office manager Jenn Custis was excited that the Philly Boys finally made it up to Bellingham, and she was even more excited to get her sandwich.
"Last time I had one it was in Philly, so I'll have to see how they measure up," she said.
After getting her sandwich and going inside to eat it - savoring it in front of the line of waiting people would've been just cruel - she returned to rave.
"Absolutely fabulous," Custis said. "It's just as I remembered it. Who knew Cheez Whiz would be so good."
The truck featured two traditional preparations of the cheesesteak: one with Cheez Whiz and one with white American cheese.
Kate Weatherby, a Logos executive assistant and former Philadelphia resident, said the sandwiches were a little taste of home.
"In Philly, anyone that works in Center City, that's where you get your lunch is from some guy on a street corner selling a sandwich or a soft pretzel," she said. "It's so nice to be able to do that here."
Weatherby had heard about the truck from her dad, who had told her that its sandwiches were the closest you could get to Philly in the Pacific Northwest.
"It was a great representation," Weatherby said. "It was a good sandwich. I hope they'll come back."
Many of the people in the line wondered if the big crowd meant that the truck would make a return trip to Bellingham.
"If we're invited," Philly Boys co-owner Frank Bucci said.
