Happy Thanksgiving from ALLNY.com and the Moments Blog!
Posts Tagged ‘Thanksgiving’
Thanksgiving Alone But Together
My most memorable New York Thanksgiving was the first one I had after moving to the city only a few months prior. This was four years ago, when I had just turned eighteen. My best friend from high school and I were all alone, but together, living in a run-down basement apartment. We decided that even though all of our family members were thousands of miles away in Texas we could still make a special Thanksgiving meal with our own two hands. So we spent all day making every possible dish. There was mashed potatoes, cornbread, cranberry sauce (made from fresh cranberries), stuffing, green beans, pie… although, we both realized that we were absolutely terrified of roasting an actual whole turkey by ourselves. This is the kind of task my Dad always devotedly undertook, and is a typical responsibility of the parent in the household. Not to let our shaky new independence get the best of us, we devised a brilliant, and very “New York” plan for including a roast bird in our Thanksgiving feast. We walked down to our local Chinese restaurant and bought a roast duck as it innocently hung in the window, aglow with the iconic neon lights. As we filled our feeble table with the fruits of our labor and festooned it with strings of fall foliage a deep satisfaction and feeling of steady transition came over us.
Thanksgiving in NYC Pt. II
When Thanksgiving morning rolled around my Mom, and my sons and I were so excited that we were awake and ready to go at 4:30 in the morning! After breakfast, and dressing the boys up in very warm clothes we headed up to meet up with my Dad and husband on the parade route. Watching that parade in person after all of my years as a child wanting to was simply stunning, but what made it truly the best was being there and sharing that moment with my own kids. It is surely a day and a memory that none of us will ever forget. After the parade we went back to the hotel, and when we arrived we had a whole Thanksgiving day feast waiting for us in our room. My Dad went all out to truly make this a family day, and a day we are all so very thankful to be a part of. I personally have been to New York and the City of New York many times since we have friends that moved there, but this Thanksgiving was the Best trip I have ever had to that beautiful city and state!
Thanksgiving in NYC Pt. I
All my life I grew up watching the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Day parade on TV with my Mom and Dad. Every year I told my parents how badly I wanted to go to that parade someday. I begged and pleaded but I always heard about how crowded it would be, how much money it would cost, where would we eat turkey dinner, and so on. So, after a few years in a row of hearing the same thing, I gave up on asking for this wonderful Thanksgiving tradition. A few years back, now that I have children of my own, my parents surprised my husband, myself and my kids with a trip to none other than the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Day parade! We left two days before Thanksgiving and drove to New York City. Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel and then headed right out to lock down our spot for the big Thanksgiving day parade. Of course it was too cold out to keep our young sons out in the cold over night waiting on the parade, so my husband and my dad took turns out on the street keeping our amazingly awesome spot for the parade.
The Best Thanksgiving Ever
It was the year 2008 when I celebrated the best Thanksgiving of my life in New York City. It is certainly one of the best times of the year to be in New York. I decided to throw a bash at my place and invited all my friends. We bought a huge turkey and cooked a delicious meal out of it for dinner. I arranged for the best possible wines and some unbelievable barbecues. There was live orchestra at my place and people were dancing to the grooves of the music. I had made arrangements for strobe lights at my place so that the guests could have fun to the fullest. After the hearty meal, the men played football in the nearby playground while the ladies were busy drinking and chatting at my apartment. We all headed towards the Statue of Liberty to get a glimpse of the beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. The cool breeze and the entire ambiance at the venue was making the entire moment extremely romantic and therefore, memorable. At midnight, we cut a ten-pound cake, which was homemade and delicious. Basically it was one Thanksgiving that I, and probably all present at the party, will remember throughout our lives.
Don’t Rain on My Parade
It was a few years ago and I was really excited to wake up and attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The previous night I got together my camera as well as some food and drink and went to sleep early so I would not miss any of the fun. I was anticipating taking the train to the city early in the morning and getting a great spot so I would enjoy the whole experience. I woke up around 2 am and it was raining. It was raining so hard, I did not think it would be a good idea to go. I got dressed anyway in hope that the rain would slow down and I would be able to attend . After I got dressed and bundled up, I went outside and waited hoping that the rain would slow down just enough that I could go. By now it was after 3 am and still raining hard, I realized that there was no hope and it was just going to be any other rainy day. I took all of my belongings and went back inside. I was really sad I missed the parade; I had planned for this and now there was nothing I could do. Since it was Thanksgiving, I decided to just go home and try not to be gloomy. I got inside to my nice cozy place, sat down and just fell asleep still bundled up. When I woke up the parade just started so I got to watch it from inside. It was still slightly raining so in a way it was good I did not go. Instead of ruining my Thanksgiving, I got to sit home with the people I love and we sat down and had family time. Had I have gone to the parade alone, we would not have been together to enjoy the peaceful day dry and indoors all together.
First NYC Thanksgiving Parade
My younger cousin was in his freshman year in high school and his high school band was invited to play in the Thanksgiving Day Parade held in New York. We were all super excited for him, and having grown up across the river from NYC, it had always been a real desire of mine to go and see the Thanksgiving Day Parade in person. Because the band had to be in the city around 4am, we left really early to get there. My father opted to stay home and work on cooking the turkey because there was no way we were going to forgo a turkey on Thanksgiving just because we’d be in the city most of the day! We got in the city very early along with the band, and while they were setting up, we were able to walk around and see the large balloons being inflated and the floats getting ready. It was so incredible! Around 7am, we headed over to grab some breakfast at the Manhattan Diner (super delicious and highly recommended!). Afterward, we made our way about 3 blocks from the starting point (77th Street) of the parade. The sidewalks were already packed at 5am that morning, so finding a spot wasn’t easy and I felt like a sardine during the whole parade. This was probably a good thing considering it had to be about 25 degrees in the city that morning and the body heat was probably the only thing giving me the ability to feel my toes! The parade was awesome and the experience was once in a lifetime. Seeing the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City live and in person is incredible and it has certainly made every other Thanksgiving morning since that much sweeter (and warmer!).
Tradition is What You Make of It, There
I’ve lived my entire life in America, but until adulthood, I never celebrated Thanksgiving the way American culture dictates you’re supposed to. My mother didn’t believe in cooking elaborate meals, and she didn’t get along with extended family well enough to feel thankful about holiday dinners they chose to host. So, because on Thanksgiving, everyone else gets a big meal cooked by some body else, each year we’d go out to eat. Usually this was at a pizzeria around the corner.
One year the tradition was broken on behalf of a family friend inviting my family out to dinner. Into NYC we drove, into the murky depths of Astoria, Queens, eventually pulling into the otherwise deserted parking lot of a Chinese restaurant. This was certainly not going to be the Thanksgiving of Norman Rockwell paintings either, but it was a change from the usual pizza.
Crispy duck stood in for a turkey. Fried wonton noodles pretended to be stuffing, and a bowl of sweet and sour sauce was our gravy. Broccoli in brown sauce replaced green bean casserole. The slices of orange that came before our check were close enough to cranberry sauce. It was the closest to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner I had gotten. In truth, it was the first time I got anyone to go around the table and give thanks, even if my father gave thanks that they had real utensils, and not just chopsticks.
Looking back on that Thanksgiving, it was the kind of memory that could only have been made in a place like NYC. In most places, there’s nowhere open on Thanksgiving except the dining rooms of those close to you. But in NY, you can always find a venue for recreating a tradition your own way.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City
Growing up in New York City, my favorite memory of Thanksgiving is when I went to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade as a 5 or 6 year old with both of my parents. It was probably only a year or two before they split, and this is my only memory of Thanksgiving with all three of us together.
It was a cold, windy day, with the clouds spitting out raindrops, though it never fully rained. I tried standing on the base of a streetlight, but that didn’t get me high enough to see over the woman in front. I ended up kneeling on top of a mailbox, with my dad supporting me from behind. I remember my mom exclaiming and then laughing as her fur hat kept trying to fly off. The only inflatable I specifically remember seeing is Goofy, which is funny, since I never particularly liked him. I can remember him coming down 5th Avenue after clearing the turn from the West Side. Later we took the subway to my grandmother’s house in Queens to eat our traditional turkey there for Thanksgiving. I don’t remember that much about the dinner – typical kid – it was all about the parade!
Since then, I’ve lived my adult life in Ohio and one of my big regrets is not taking my son to see the Macy’s parade in New York City while he was young enough to appreciate it.
A Bite of the Big Apple
My happiest New York City Thanksgiving memory happened way back in the 1970s, after I had moved from Manhattan in which I was born to the end of Long Island. Two close friends who lived on the Upper West Side invited me and another friend to their apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. Neither of us had been to their place before and, after driving in on the Long Island Expressway, we actually found a place to park right in front of their brownstone apartment! It was a particularly beautiful fall day, with crisp, clear air, and bright blue sky with an occasional puff of cloud. Walking up to their second floor apartment, I felt that this was not the typical West Side of New York brownstone. I should know; I was born in Manhattan. As we all settled in with a cocktail and were admiring the pumpkins and bright fall foliage of the table’s centerpiece, I asked about the apartment. It had the highest, most ornate ceilings I’d ever seen in a New York City apartment, and an actual fireplace. There was something about the place that seemed out of the ordinary. I was impressed when they said the building had been the home of Enrico Caruso, one of the world’s greatest Italian tenors who died in 1921. It had been broken up into one-bedroom apartments, but its grandeur was still present and I did feel a sense of history, especially when I found out that Enrico Caruso had died in the Vesuvio Hotel in Naples, Italy, which coincidentally was the hotel where I had stayed on a trip there in 1957!
Only in New York City on a beautiful fall Thanksgiving Day can one be in such an aura of charm, the historic past and the convivial present.