Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Okay, so I know I said I'd post this the other day, but well, I didn't.  SORRY.. sucks to suck.  Anyways, last week was Thanksgiving and each year Macy*s hosts the Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC.  I had watched it a few times on TV but being in New York, it was something I just HAD to experience myself!

Macy*s Balloon Inflation

So, the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving I went to 79th St at Columbus where the parade balloons are inflated. It's a great opportunity to see the balloons before hand and up close and personal!  It was incredibly crowded but again, there are a lot of "once-in-a-lifetime" (or a long time) experiences that I just cannot miss out on while I'm here in NYC.  The balloons were humongous and I could not imagine the process of inflating them.  For instance, this is the instructions to inflate SpongeBob SquarePants:

SpongeBob SquarePants inflation orders

The event wrapped around the American Museum of Natural History with the balloons located on 77th and 81st.  There was only one way in but likely 4 ways out.  In all, it was great to be able to get pictures with the balloons before the parade and see what the magic is all about. :)

Me with the Macy*s stars that lead the parade.

The next morning was the parade! It started at 9:00 at 77th and Central Park West.  It then traveled south to 59th Street, over to 6th Avenue then down to 34th Street where it finished in front of Macy*s.  I decided to go to 59th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue so that I would see the parade end and be able to get to Grand Central before the masses of people that were closer to Macy*s.  In order to get a front row seat (and no, there were no actual seats, just a spot to sit on the ground) I woke up at 5:00am and was at my spot around 5:45am.  It was one of the last available places to sit up front and pretty soon the whole sidewalk was filling up.  Here are some of the highlights from the parade:

First there was this Cop Clown that decided to put on a show when he saw my camera.

Sunrise morning of the parade

Crowd that formed before the parade

First balloons of the parade: 2 yellow Macy*s stars and Hello Kitty

US women's gymnastic team aka the Fierce Five

Fairy Clown

Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and an elf

2 red Macy*s stars to end the parade

My front row spot for the entire parade

There were a lot more balloons, performers and clowns but with the lack of sun in the area that I was, not only was it FREEZING, but the pictures were not always the best quality.

It was fun to be there, talk with the people nearby (a family from Brooklyn and a family from Missouri) and most importantly, see the parade.  However, I probably would never do it again, that is, at least until I have kids.

xoxo, Caitlin