New York

Living on the East Coast is cool.  We get beaches, beautiful fall colors, and proximity to a lot of swell things.  New York is one of them -- so far we have made it into Manhattan twice.  Once was for an overnight get-away (thanks to my wonderful mom who played nanny) and the other was for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  It was surreal to see things in such an everyday context when they are world famous.


Our first adventure was a lot of fun.  We saw a Broadway show, took the ferry past Lady Liberty, ate a lot of great food, saw Times Square and Central Park, visited the rebuilding of the twin towers, and had a great time exploring without little ones in tow.

Times Square

Central Park (we saw a tiny corner of it - I can't wait to take the kids there soon) was a haven in the concrete world of Manhattan -- just when I was thinking that I'd lose my mind without some kind of contact with nature, we walked into this refuge with parks, greenery, trees, rocks, grass.

The ferry ride was fun, but sooooo cold!

Ground Zero and the Twin Towers being rebuilt

Q was sure that I almost bumped into Connan O'Brian while crossing the street in front of Central Park.  By the time I'd safely gotten to the other side, I couldn't tell much except it was a tall, skinny man with big orange hair, so maybe!

We hung out and chatted with Occupiers on Wall Street for a bit.  I had wanted to talk to someone actually involved in the movement, instead of just hearing about it on the news.  I'd like to say that I came away understanding their cause, but they didn't seem to know what they were trying to accomplish.  It was a tiny park, filled with an unusual mixture of people in tents who knew they were involved in something big, but didn't really have a specific goal or agenda.

 The day before the New York Marathon -- lots of runners and flags.

Our second adventure was on Thanksgiving morning.  I'd wanted to go to the parade, but my sister was flying into town very late the night before and it just didn't seem to make sense to try to drag everyone out in the cold  with little sleep.  But... I couldn't resist.  A bit last minute, I did some research and we just went for it.  Seeing the parade really was a once in a lifetime experience.  It was cold, packed, and hard to see everything, but there was such excitement in the air and the kids were in awe of the big balloons.  Afterwards we got some street food and then headed home to fix a Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a very full and satisfying day.  I was especially thankful for a hubby that humored me, a sister that provided extra helping hands, and her Nook that saved the day.

 Neil Diamond

The stands across the street are reserved for Macy's employees and their families as a thank you for the holiday hours they put in.  Right behind the bleachers is Central Park.

A couple of days after the parade, I went to a movie with my sister and the parade was in the movie -- it was so cool to say "I WAS THERE -- I'VE SEEN THE MACY'S PARADE IN PERSON!"  Now I kind of want to go back and re-watch all of the tv shows and movies based in NYC.