Happy Thanksgiving

A couple of years ago C and I went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.  It was the first time we attended the parade and I took advantage of an executive perk and got tickets for us in the grand stand in front of the Hearld Square store.  I would post the photographs from the parade, except there aren’t any.  Someone remembered to bring the camera, but forgot the battery!

Also, other than Manhattanites, most people are not aware of an event that takes place on the Upper West Side the night before the parade.  It’s called the Inflation Party.  It’s a terrible name, but I was repeatedly told what a fun event it was.  Block after block along Central Park West is closed and the parade balloons are filled with helium.  People come from all over the city to get a close up view of the balloons as they take shape.  Having decided that this needed to be a part of our Thanksgiving festivities I forced C to go.  I expected us to be able to casually stroll along the avenues and gaze at the balloons.  C is not a large crowd type of person and I knew we were in trouble as soon as we got off the subway.  The streets were mobbed as far as you could see.  As we got closer the sidewalks became shoulder to shoulder and the police force started herding the crowds like cattle.  I was able to flash a business card and Macy ID and get into a less crowed VIP area, otherwise C would have ran out screaming.  It was cold.  We walked one block, then went home.  So much for that tradition.