We Three Jacksons: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Thanksgiving this year was a little different from normal. Normally (since we've relocated to CT) we all "meet in the middle" at my brother's house in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. This year, my parents were unable to make it, and since my brother would be working most of the time anyway, Andrew and I decided to stay in Connecticut and go down to NYC for the Macy's parade. We figured it was the only time we would be able to go, so we decided to just do it. We are SO GLAD we did! It was wonderful, and if you're in the area for Thanksgiving (and the weather is nice) I HIGHLY recommend doing it. We took the train down to the city on Wednesday evening.
The very first thing we did after getting off the train? Stop by Crumbs to grab a couple of delicious cupcakes to go before they closed! (We've been trying to do this on our last 2 trips to the city this past summer and they always closed before we got there!) Our hotel (The Dylan Hotel) was on Madison and 41st street so we were really close to the parade route. We weren't far from Times Square, so for dinner that night, we wandered down that way and ate at Dallas BBQ. It was good, but the name is misleading - it was on par with the kind of bbq you might find in Chili's, but not the really yummy Texas bbq most of the readers of this blog are accustomed to. However, my burger was absolutely delicious. As we made the trek back to the hotel, we passed through Bryant Park and stopped to watch the ice skaters there. Then, back to the hotel to relax and prepare for our early morning.
We got a wake up call at 5:30am and got up and ready and out the door before 7:00am. We walked over and grabbed a spot across the street from Bryant Park - right in front of Dylan's Candy Bar - and waited. I held our spots while Andrew went in search of warm drinks and breakfast. He eventually made it back with coffee (hot chocolate for him) and breakfast sandwiches from McDonald's. I didn't drink much of mine (anyone who knows me well...or at all...knows why!). Then it became a waiting game. We watched as work crews worked to turn street lights and traffic lights so they would hang over the sidewalk and not the road. We visited with people around us. I took some pictures of our surroundings and the crowd. Finally, at 9:00 am the parade started . . . of course, it didn't get to us until about 9:40am! But when it did, it was wonderful! It was so cool to get to actually be there and see all of the balloons up close. There was only about 1 row of people in front of us, so we could see really well. The weather was gorgeous, and we were actually feeling a little warm by the end of the parade. I think I took a picture of every single balloon - except the ones of characters I absolutely don't like (Spongebob, for instance). It was an incredible experience and I recommend it (but not with small children...wait until they're older. Seriously.)

Here are some of my favorite pics: