In Macy's we trust...

I lost the argument about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Imagining it to be at least Dante's fifth circle of Hell but with rude New Yorkers and port-a-potties, I wanted to stay home and do anything but take the train into the city for a fleeting glimpse of a few balloons. And as the trip started, I smugly thought I was right. Here's the scene getting off the 1 train at 59th Street.

The parade route closed one of the exits in a station that already had its walkways cut in half due to renovations. But after 15 minutes or so, we poked our heads out of the ground and staked out a spot on Columbus Circle. We could see the floats coming down Broadway by Central Park before looping around the circle and heading south.

In addition to Dora, we admired the traditional Snoopy, the Energizer Bunny, a Smurf, Pikachu, Ronald McDonald, Buzz Lightyear, Hello Kitty and somebody from Sesame Street who nobody could name. We probably spent about 45 minutes standing 10-deep from the road, alternating kids on our shoulders. It really was halfway pleasant.

Then we ducked into a nearby Starbucks and headed south with our warm beverages. Lincoln fell asleep during the walk. We made it down to 54th & Broadway, next to David Letterman's Ed Sullivan theater, where we staked out an even better spot on a hotel window ledge directly above a dryer vent.






The view here was much better, although I'll admit feeling envy toward the office workers camped out in their cubicles overlooking Broadway. From this vantage point we watched Shrek and Horton float by, before a trio of elves on steroids guided Santa's sleigh downtown.


All in all, a very New York kind of day. I hate to give msnbc.com any traffic, but they have a good slideshow from the parade if you missed it.

We were home by 1pm and eating Carey's fabulous feast by 530. But that's the subject of tomorrow's post.