We Three Jacksons: New Year's Eve in New York City!!!

We decided this year that, if the weather was reasonably nice, we would go to Times Square to ring in 2011. We figured that now was a good time to go since we are so close to the city and we don't have kids yet. So, on NYE (after sleeping quite late - we had a very late night the night before) we got up and took the train into the city. We got the to city around 4:30pm. We then tried our best to get to the Times Square area. We waited at 2 different checkpoints with huge crowds to try to get in, but they both closed before we made it through. Third time was a charm though. The third checkpoint we waited at (getting pushed, shoved, and groped) let us through and we were that much closer to our destination. Success, we thought! Little did we know, we were still many blocks away from where we wanted to be, the crowds were thickening very quickly, we still had at least one more checkpoint to go through, and we were starving as we had only had a pretzel all day. So, by 5:30 we had made it through one checkpoint and were on 7th between 52nd and 53rd (near Stage Deli, for those of you who know the area). We talked to a cop for a second who said that people had started lining up in Times Square at 2:00 pm. 2:00!!!! That's 10 hours early! Yikes! We decided that we probably wouldn't get much closer, so we went and ate dinner at Ray's Pizza (a favorite of ours from our Honeymoon). By the time we came out about an hour later, the crowds were literally penned up in the middle of the street and the amount of people was absolutely crazy! I was so glad not to have my purse on me, I can't even begin to tell you! So, for those of you who didn't know, there are no restrooms available to you once you are "penned up."

people in the pen

No port-a-potties and if you leave the pen, you have no guarantee you'll get back in (ie. if you leave to go to the bathroom in a restaurant). And, for those of you who know me, you know I don't do well going for a long period of time without a bathroom. Miracle of miracles, I made it 5.5 hours without going! Be proud. =) Initially we weren't going to get into the pen (for that very reason - no bathroom accessibility) but we decided to just go ahead and try it. So, we got into a pen, made it to almost the front of the pen, and stayed put. Now, the people are penned up in different groups down the street. Gradually they open the pens and allow people the opportunity to move up closer until you can't move any more. Andrew and I were happy with where we were, so when the pen opened up we didn't move. However, many other people did. I didn't move my feet and I was close enough to the person in front of me that we were touching, and yet people still managed to squeeze between us. I turned and told Andrew that I had decided people are like rats - if they can get their head through a space, then they can get the rest of them through as well. CRAZY! Anyway, we ended up visiting with a nice couple and their kids who were living in NYC, but were originally from Texas (yay!), so we commiserated about all of the great Texan things we missed. It was nice being able to chat with other people to make the time go by a bit faster. Every hour (and one half hour) there was a count down and blast of fireworks to mark the new year in another time zone. Finally, it was time for the real countdown! We counted down and I got my camera ready to take pics and, wouldn't you know it, I was so busy taking pictures that I didn't actually see the ball drop - the one thing I could have seen form where we were standing. And, Andrew didn't see it either because he was too busy watching the numbers counting down. At least I have some pics of the ball when it was up, and the ball after it is down. It was quite and experience and an experience we are glad we had (just to say we did) but once was enough. We will never do it again, but we had a good time.