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.
Posts Tagged ‘tradition’
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 White Christmas Thanksgiving
In 2008 I spent Thanksgiving just with my mother and father. Early morning, we woke up and got seats on the bleachers to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was fairly cold, but it’s always worth it. This is a tradition with my immediate family, and it is always such a joy to watch the parade. We love watching the parade, buying souvenir-like things from the vendors and observing all the families there with little children. The kids are always the most excited and in awe. That afternoon was spent napping, no one was particularly in a cooking mood (from the early morning wake-up, you see) and we knew that we were going to go out to eat anyway, so we felt it was earned and appropriate. We then took the subway to Times Square and got tickets to see WHITE CHRISTMAS on Broadway, which none of us had ever seen. It was a fantastic show! There were lots of families seeing the show, and it really was a treat. My family watches the movie every year for Christmas so the show was just a necessity. Afterward, perhaps around 10:30pm, we had a late dinner at Juniors. Following the wonderful dinner was, of course, Juniors’ cheesecake. A wonderful ending to a wonderful day.
A Thanksgiving to Remember: New York State of Mind
A few years ago, when I was 19 years old, I went to New York City on Thanksgiving day to spend the holiday with my friend Travis, his brother Jack, and their immediate family. While I expected a unique taste of New York City, what with being so far from home and my own family, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. Upon arrival, I heard news of Travis and Jack’s parents being very strict vegetarians, and that our Thanksgiving meal, while surely delicious, would be less than traditional. In fact, it was so far from the norm, Martha and Frank, their loving parents, had substituted the standard large turkey for a large vegetarian pizza, topped with delicious red and green vegetables. While slightly more difficult to get accustomed to, the meal (which included stuffing, potatoes, and other traditional thanksgiving staples) was outstanding. Wondering why they had settled on pizza, I quickly came to a realization as to where I was. I was in New York City, a place where pizza shops can be found on every street and every corner, and while pizza at the holidays may not exactly be representative of the state as a whole, it certainly gave our meal that unmistakable New York City flair. In all honesty, it was a nice change of pace, and to be quite honest, after a few bites of that delicious homemade Thanksgiving pizza, I really didn’t miss the turkey after all. We ate, we laughed, we shared stories, but most importantly, we were together in New York City on Thanksgiving.