Holidays In The City - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade 2017

Back to the city on Thanksgiving Day, parade day! Yesterday I recapped Day 1 and Day 2 in NYC. Today is all about Day 3. Our intentions were to see what the weather was like on T-Day and decide if we would do the parade. I was worried about the crowds and the cold, so I was ok with either choice, watching on TV or standing along the street. My daughter wouldn't hear it, "We are in NYC for Thanksgiving, so we must go to the parade." I mean when you put it that way.

We woke up early on Thursday morning with the best intentions to get to the ferry by 6am. Everything I read said, if you don't have your parade spot by 6:30am, then you might as well go home. Three teenagers later, we finally arrived at the ferry at 7:30am and were on the parade route by 8am. It wasn't nearly as crowded as we imagined. We were close enough to the front that we didn't miss anything. And yes, it was cold. And it was fun. And I wouldn't do it again! I like the parade from my warm home in my pjs! There is no other way:)

My assumption is, if you want front row seats, then you will need to be there by 6:30am. However, we were 3 people deep and we didn't miss anything (remember: we got there at 8am). Bring your blankets and (possibly) thermos. Wear all the layers and then add one more for good measure. We were icicles by the time we left the parade wearing double layers and cold weather gear.

If you research and research, you will find the same advice, don't leave your seats after you get them. I would echo that a hundred times. The closer you get to parade time, the more people fill in the spaces and you won't have a place anymore. Bathrooms are limited in general, so be warned. Starbucks and CVS are your best bets for bathrooms.

The parade was everything you would imagine. The balloons were so fun to watch overhead. The people walking the parade route exuded holiday joy. They waved, smiled, and wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. The celebrities on floats were hit or miss along our part of the parade route. Some were on their phones, some talking to their people around the float, some lip sang when they didn't have to, and others worked the crowd. Jimmy Fallon was one of those people working the crowd. I did fan girl when I saw him. He was the best. 

After the parade, we went to the Soldiers', Sailors', Marines', Coast Guard, and Airmens' Club for Thanksgiving dinner. We celebrated with other military families visiting the city for the holidays. We exchanged all our best tips for NYC touring. One of my favorite topics is travel talk! After our Thanksgiving lunch, the boys headed to the hotel to warm up and the girls spent the final day in the city.

We headed back to Rockefeller Center and explored the NBC studio stores, Rockefeller Center area(again), and New York City Library.

I wasn't giving up anymore time in the city than necessary on our last day.

Every trip across the river we went right past the Statue of Liberty. New York is everything I thought it would be minus the rude people and high crime. What I mean is, I expected the people to be rude and to feel uneasy walking around. We had only good experiences! People were nice, the city was clean, everybody minding their own business, and people out and about at all hours. I loved it!

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