New York City

Frank and I loved spending Thanksgiving in New York City. Seeing Andy and his new place, having Nick and Kim join us from LA, good food, lots of laughs, a little sightseeing and the burgeoning Christmas decorations made for a truly memorable week!

Andy’s apartment is right next to the Stock Exchange in the Financial District of Manhattan. (Yes, he has a real Christmas tree!)

His neighborhood is a great mix of new and old. The 9/11 Memorial and Calatrava’s Oculus transit center are nearby. I had just seen “Hamilton” back in Milwaukee so it was especially interesting to see our nation’s first capitol, the tavern where Hamilton had dinner the night before the duel and the church where he is buried.

A Thanksgiving away from home was a new experience. We conveniently rented a two-bedroom in Andy’s building. The kitchen was fairly well-equipped but didn’t have everything you’d need to cook a full holiday meal. I froze and brought some cookies and breads from home. I knew I could manage a few side dishes and hors d’oeuvres, but a turkey? Enter Citarella’s. Turkey, check. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy — check! I found the “best” New York cheesecake (May Ze Dahr) and a good place for dinner rolls (Amy’s). Pre-holiday pickups gave me a chance to explore different areas of the city!

Frank sliced the turkey before reheating and it was perfect! Do you like our “silver” serving pieces?! All the better for cleanup, my dear!

The best part of Thanksgiving was the company! Andy invited a few of his new friends — Dara, Neal and Frankie — to join us.

Besides Thanksgiving, we got into a lot of other good food during our stay. New York has no shortage of restaurants! One highlight was catching up with our niece, Emily, who recently moved to New York and was heading back to Wisconsin for the holiday weekend.

In a matter of days, we experienced both fall and winter in NYC.

With Thanksgiving behind us, the city was so cheery and put us in the Christmas spirit!

It was fun watching the tree come together in front of the Stock Exchange next to Andy’s building.

All too quickly, it was time to say goodbye. We are so thankful for a wonderful week and can’t wait ’til next time!

Perhaps it’s because I was born on Thanksgiving. I love everything about the holiday — family, food and the Macy’s Day Parade! I’m glued to the spectacle every year while preparing the turkey and our family’s traditional holiday spingi (Italian donuts). The bands. The floats. The Rockettes. Santa. And, of course, the balloons! The parade sets the tone for a joy-filled day and the start of the holiday festivities.

Andy moved to NYC in July and now splits his time between here and Milwaukee. Our first visit to see his place is over Thanksgiving — presenting me an opportunity (coincidently?!!) to personally experience the pinnacle of all parades!

Everyone I know that’s been to the parade, told me I had to go see the balloon inflation the night before. Frank and Andy said they’d join me. That is, until we were rerouted several times and several blocks into a street packed like sardines with a slow-moving mass of humanity. The guys headed back downtown and I swam along. I rounded the corner; still no balloons. Once bags and backpacks were checked, the crowd loosened up and soon, around the corner, was the first glimpse of the balloons.

People were well-mannered and friendly. Excitement was all around!

My favorite, a new balloon designed by Yayoi Kusama

Would we see these balloons in flight tomorrow? The possibility of extreme winds had been reported in the days leading up to the big event. City rules require balloons to be grounded if sustained winds exceed 23 mph or gusts exceed 34 mph. The balloons have been grounded only once (in 1971) for weather-related reasons. Would that happen in 2019? A decision would not be made until right before the parade starts . . .

Parade Day

It’s early. The street and my first subway are empty.

I met a lovely couple on the train platform. Although their home is in NYC, it was Pedro and Anna’s first time at the parade. We exited the train and found an amazing spot in Columbus Circle!

For some reason, we had a funny feeling this was too good to be true. We kept wondering how the parade could go around the circle, despite reassurances from a few of NYC’s finest. We asked around some more and found our hunches were right. We’d have to move.

We wandered up and down the now crowded streets and finally talked our way into Central Park where we found an even better, elevated, SEATED spot on a grassy hill! Frank had been texting me balloon updates. We were thrilled when city officials opted to have the balloons fly, albeit lower to the ground.