Always behind it seems..but New York!

Can't believe it has been since October ??!!??!! that I posted last! Holy buckets. Seems like a lot has happened since then, so I'd better get busy catching up the last few months.

November was another busy month, having planned a 6 days in New York trip with my parents and sister. Dad had suggested the trip and asked my sister if she wanted to go along, as mom had said she didn't think she'd be up to it.  They asked if I wanted to go too, since mom wasn't going, and I, of course, said sure. Well, my mom, not wanting to miss out, decided she would be up to it after all (hahaha) and so we all went. The tour company called it Thanksgiving in The Big Apple.

The tour company flies out of Sea Tac, so I had to first fly to Seattle from Spokane, and my sister had to fly in from San Diego the day before. We met up with everyone the next morning and boarded our flight to JFK. We arrived in Manhattan the evening before Thanksgiving.

Our hotel was within walking distance of Times Square so there was quite a lot to do and see even if we didn't have a tour bus or schedule, which, of course, we mostly did. That first night we went to O'Lunney's for fish and chips.

As always, we don't travel without the Yahtzee dice. Dad's turn.

The next morning we headed out for the parade. I say 'headed out' ... turns out the parade route was just the end of the block from our hotel. After a quick breakfast at the Bistro, about 3 steps from our hotel (Mela), we walked outside to find a spot to watch the parade. (The Long Room is about 3 steps from our hotel door on the OTHER side.)

More than 8,000 people participate in the Macy's parade today, an annual tradition since 1924. I had no idea there were 3.5 million people watching in person!! That makes our viewing vantage point even more impressive. 

NYPD were setting up the road blocks/barricades before the parade. How lucky for us that the best spot (without being right on the street as the floats passed) was a mere steps away from our door. You can see behind us the hotel and cafe signs from where we stood.

This is Officer Lipkin. She kept the stream of people moving in the right direction so they weren't blocking our view or cutting off the parade. She's very awesome.

Just a few of the floats. We weren't able to see all the celebrity performances, bands, and such that you would see if you watched on tv as they were all spread out throughout the parade route (which is just over 3 miles long), but it was an experience to be able to see the parade in person.

But, for us, the highlight was when Jimmy Fallon and Quest Love of The Roots WAVED TO US! (Ok maybe he didn't actually wave to US specifically, but he was looking our way and that was pretty cool. LOL)

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square (a la Home Alone 2, Lost in New York, if you know the movie LOL). It was not the 'feast' they advertised and, as noted by the prices on the menu pictured below, completely outrageous for the barely mediocre food and basically awful service we received. On top of that, I got sick that night and barfed up my dinner. Certainly no five star rating from me.

Can you see the infamous New Year's Eve "ball" about 3/4ths of the way up?

In Times Square we encountered the Naked Cowboy. We don't know this lady but since he was already posing for pics with her, we took our photo op as well. LOL

Our Thanksgiving Feast Menu. So bummed I didn't get any pics of the actual plates for comparison and price point.

This was just our first day, so I'll be sharing in other posts more pics of the trip. We saw the 9/11 museum and memorial, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building and even the Rockettes, so watch for those posts coming soon. :)