NYC at Thanksgiving — But Where Will You Live?

We love short adventures with close friends and family. From riding roller-coasters at Cedar Point, to running races in Canada, to hiking around Switzerland, some of our favorite adventures have been shared with others.

When Jim asked his mom where she would like to go and what she most wanted to see, she said NYC. Specifically, she wanted to see the Rockettes.

It worked out nicely for us to meet in NYC the week of Thanksgiving to see the Rockettes, with an added bonus of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We even booked a room right on the parade route (although I would recommend not staying at the Midtown Hilton—it was awful!).

Our first full day in New York brought us to the 911 Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and seeing the musical Hamilton. Jet lag isn't going to get in our way of adventuring!

Day two brought us to the Empire State Building, the NYC library, a walk through central park, and, the absolute highlight of the trip: Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes!

I collected my new NYC library card… and what a beautiful library! It was crazy busy though. I think this is my 14th or 15th library card…

I was excited to see the Rockettes but was really blown away by the performance. Truly spectacular and something I would do again and again. The dancers were all in sync, the set was impressive, incorporating the streets of New York and even some 3D glasses.

I could see making the Rockettes an annual thing!

Day 3: Thanksgiving and the Macy's Parade

We are often traveling over Thanksgiving and it’s never been much of a holiday for us as adults, but growing up, I have memories of watching the parade at my grandparents’ house while G-ma was in the kitchen and Beep Beep (the affectionate nickname my brother gave our grandfather before I was born) was building a fire in the living room fireplace.

We didn’t live close, it was an 8-10 hour drive, so these trips were incredibly special to me. Time with family has always meant so much to me. As I’ve gotten older, I realize that isn’t the case for everyone. I feel that much more fortunate that my parents worked so hard to ensure I had a relationship with my grandparents and many of my cousins. Family vacations were almost always centered around visiting family—my first trip outside of the US wasn’t until I was 20 years old.

So, getting to see the parade live and in person brought back so many good memories of Thanksgiving morning at G-ma and Beep Beep's.

The parade was fun! We had a small VIP area in front of the hotel (again, I DO NOT recommend the midtown Hilton: awful service, awful rooms). The CBS TV stand and crews were set up just across from the hotel and you can just make us out as blobs in front of the hotel.

We watched about 2/3 of the parade before deciding it was a bit too cold to stay out. Although it was probably some of the absolute best weather for the parade: in the 40s, sunny, with no wind, but our thin blood still knew it wasn’t in the 70s and 80s.

The buzz of excitement in the air was something!

Next up was a trip up into the sky: Top of the Rock. Mostly sunny, Temps in the 50s with no wind! What? The weather gods must not have realized Jim would be in town.

After checking out the views, we headed downstairs to watch the ice skaters and the window shows at Saks (wowee!), and head off for our Thanksgiving dinner at Quality Meats.

We fit in a lot in just a few days!