Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

I can’t remember a single Thanksgiving that I did not watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Whether I was cooking or just camped out in front of the T.V., I was always left in awe at the floats, enormous balloons and performances. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to attend this year’s parade. As with everything I do, things did not go as planned. Long story short, my family and I arrived in New York at 4 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning! Ticket holders were to line up at 7 a.m. so that left us with an hour to sleep if we wanted to make it into the city and get in line. We probably could’ve slept longer, but we didn’t want to leave anything to chance. After a quick nap and a call to a cab company we were off. Groggy, but in good spirits, our cab driver’s jokes and driving woke us up! He was friendly and all things New York.

When we got to the corner of Columbus and 71st street, it was about 6:30 a.m. and ticketholders were being waived in. We got in line and waited to be seated on the bleachers. You could sense the excitement in the air. Everyone was in fantastic spirits and excited about the parade. Then came the wait. Two and half hours on ice cold bleachers!! Lucky for us, it wasn’t as cold as in year’s past and there was more than ample sunlight.

“Happy Thanksgiving!! Welcome to the Macy’s Parade” roller-bladers dressed as elves whizzed down the street, throwing confetti and getting the crowd ready for the parade. I was so excited I thought I might burst. As I spotted the first floats and the Great American Marching Band, I couldn’t help but cheer!! Was I really sitting in Central Park West watching the Macy’s Parade!! I can’t even begin to describe what it was like to see massive balloons hovering above you! Or to watch high school band members live out their dreams as they played and performed in the streets of New York! But, one of the coolest parts wasn’t the parade at all. It was watching children, knee high to a toilet tissue stand, getting up and watching the parade in their pajamas from their apartment windows. Wow! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go!!