*** Bucket List Item ***
My wife has been dying to head to New York to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for as long as she can remember. She grew up watching it on TV as a kid, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa at the very end. We love Christmas, and it’s a yearly tradition to watch all of the classics. It was fantastic to see the parade that Miracle on 34th Street made famous. I don’t think this was the last time we’ll see it, as next time we plan on getting there the day before, and watch the balloons get inflated.
Years ago, when our kids were younger, we stopped by Macy’s to visit Santa. That was a magical experience, and I’m very glad we did it. Out of all of the places to have your kids visit Santa, I highly recommend this, especially if your kids have ever seen the movie. (There are several versions of the movie. The Original from 1947 is the only one worth watching, in my opinion).
We’re about 3 hours from Manhattan. The parade route really starts to fill up around 7 or 8am. We wanted to get there early, before the crowds, so needless to say, we got a very early start. We took our typical route into the city, stopping for a very early breakfast at our spot along the way. It was still dark when we arrived. We parked at our hotel on 8th Avenue in the Theatre District and checked in our luggage. After taking one last trip to the restrooms, we grabbed our camping chairs and then headed over to 6th Avenue. We of course had to cut through Times Square, and I’ve never seen it this quiet. The place seemed deserted.
If you’re not staying at a hotel, parking can be pre-purchased through SpotHero, my go-to app for finding parking in the city. For the Parade, parking near Times Square seems like the best option since there are so many streets closed to traffic.
I didn’t know if or when we’d get the opportunity to do this again, so I wanted to make sure we had THE BEST view. I chose 6th Avenue, right across the street from Rockefeller Center, and diagonal to Radio City Music Hall. I figured it would be the most photogenic backdrop for my photos. I was very happy with my choice, and we were there by 6am. There were people starting to line the parade route, but we were able to grab the perfect spot, front row. Right along the barricades.
Sure, it was very early in the morning, and we had to wait around 4 hours for the parade to start. We took turns walking over to see the yet unlit tree at Rockefeller Center and the window displays at Saks 5th Avenue. While we weren’t venturing around, there was tons to see. Honestly, I never really put any thought into exactly what it entailed to put on a parade of this magnitude.
One particular thing that was pretty cool to see was the crews of well-orchestrated workers in cherry-pickers moving all of the traffic lights out of the way for the balloons. They moved quickly up 6th Avenue and were incredibly efficient.
I couldn’t believe the amount of people that flooded in to see the parade; there must have been millions of people. The sidewalks were packed, and people were truly inventive in ways to give their kids to the best view. We even saw people bring step ladders and planks of wood to lay across their steps to provide an elevated shelf for their kids to sit on! Everyone was very friendly, and it was very easy to talk to our neighbors. Many travelled quite some distance. I have to admit, I felt bad (if only for a second) when talking with the group people behind us. They had travelled halfway across the country to see their kids perform in a school marching band. We had a much better view than they did. …so, get there early!
It was great to see all of the celebrities and performers in the parade. Sure, you don’t see the actual performances of the big-named acts that are one outside of Macy’s, but honestly, many of those are pre-recorded. What was even better, though, was the amount of interaction that you could have with the people in the parade. Literally, you could shout to Jimmy Fallon and he’d wave to you. Sometimes there were pauses in the parade, and Ronald McDonald (or whoever) would come over and talk to you. It took the parade to an entirely different level. This is something that you simply CANNOT experience unless you’ve got a front row seat to the action.
We all were snapping pictures and taking video like crazy. I was hoping to upload some of them to Facebook as it was happening, but it simply wasn’t possible. Something that I guess I didn’t think about was the sheer number of people in a tight space, and the stress that everyone put on the cell service infrastructure. My wife tried to send a picture of Santa to her sister in Ohio, but it wouldn’t go through. She couldn’t even call until much later.
Once Santa passed through, the parade was over. It was crazy how fast the crowd dispersed. 20 minutes later, everyone was gone and the cleanup was just as well orchestrated as the preparations.
We were pretty hungry, and while it wasn’t cold, we were happy to head inside and grab Thanksgiving Dinner. We made 1pm reservations at probably my favorite chain restaurant, the Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chao. It’s just a few blocks north of where we were. If you like steak enough that you’re willing to risk a case of the meat-sweats, or a food coma, this is the place for you!
After our Thanksgiving meal, we saw the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. We’d seen it once before, but we were able to grab half-price tickets in the double-lettered Orchestra section. (So, they were great seats). I belong to their mailing list and got an email about a week prior with a Ticketmaster password good for half-priced tickets on select dates. The Thanksgiving matinee was one of those. Again, it was one of those moments where the stars aligned just right for us.
After the show, we headed back to our hotel and passed out. It had been a long day.
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