Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

I love holidays. I love celebrations. I love fireworks, and family get-togethers, and big crowds of happy people. Thus, it is not at all surprising that I love parades. Given my cold, and that the weather wasn't supposed to be very nice on Thursday, when I went to bed on Wednesday night I had already decided not to go to the Parade. It's so far downtown, I thought. What if it rains? What if I get sicker? What if it's not done til noon and I'm massively late for Thanksgiving dinner at 2? etc. etc.

I woke up at 6:30 on Thursday morning and immediately tried to get back to sleep. "But what about the parade?" asked the little kid in my head. "If we get up now, we can still make it, can't we?" Adult me answered something along the lines of grumblegrumble sleep grumblegrumble sick grumblegrumble rain. "But it's not raining! And we don't feel that sick!" answered the little kid. "You know you want to go to the parade!" ...and it was completely right. So I got up, got ready in a hurry, got the dog walked, checked the timing, and set off with my camera to see this years parade. On the way, I worked out the logistics in case the timing went wonky - which train to take, where to stand to get out quickly, etc. The result was that I watched the parade from just north of the start point - the parade actually "begins" between 76th and 77th and Central Park West, and I was standing at the northwest corner of 77th and CPW. You don't miss much - all the performers line up near there, so it all works out. It ended up working great - the parade ended at 10:30 at this point, I got home with plenty of time, was early enough to dinner that I helped with the prep, it didn't rain, and I didn't get sicker. Clearly, I made the right decision! :) And of course, I took loads of pictures. :) You can see the set over on Flickr - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Marching Bands!!




Balloons!!




Floats!!




Celebrities!!




...and the two people that made me most excited?


This is Grandma. Grandma is the main clown for the Big Apple Circus, which is the circus I've been going to since I was a little girl. When I see Grandma, I become spontaneously 6 years old. I haven't been to the Big Apple Circus in about 15 years, but every year I say "this year, I should go." Maybe this year will be the year...


When I saw this costume and the balloons behind it, I knew it was work by Murakami Takashi, who I first encountered in 2007. But when the announcer said that it was actually Murakami in that costume, I was very super excited. I love his work!

After the parade, I had a very nice meal with my dad, his wife, my brother and my step-brother (who I hadn't seen in 6 or 7 years). There was turkey and stuffing and potatoes and pie and more than 5 people could ever eat. Then I drove home again (it's about 1 hr 30 min drive) and when I get back, I had a long telephone chat with my mom (who told me not to come over - I'm going over there today). So all in all, I had an excellent Thanksgiving. And I still have pie.

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had wonderful ones! :)