NYC at Christmastime

When John mentioned he had a work trip to NYC in December, I fell all over myself to make it work for HG and me to go with him. Seeing New York at Christmastime has always been on my Bucket List. We had to work out the logistics carefully since we were going to Nashville that weekend before, but thanks to all of HG’s grandparents, the drop offs and pick ups all worked out well. The temps there were below freezing (which meant HG and I spent a lot of time arguing about putting on her hat and gloves), but the cold did add to the holiday feeling in the air. We loved experiencing a few days of the holiday season in NYC and came home ready for Christmas and VERY grateful for Memphis’ 60 degree weather in December!

HG enjoyed her first trip to the Delta Sky Club and made herself right at home.Her cat nap at the hotel didn’t last her long, and she conked out almost as soon as we settled into our first class seats (my world traveler hubby got us upgraded). She slept the whole way, and John had to carry her off the plane, still half asleep. Look at those sleepy eyes. She woke up when we got to the hotel (Intercontinental Barclay)and she was able to touch the SNOW on the ground. They had a big snow a day or two before we arrived. We ate a quick dinner at Aperi Tivo and headed to bed. First thing on Monday morning, we headed to Macy’s at Herald Square to meet Santa. Word to the wise- if you want to see Santa there, sign up for an appointment through the Macy’s app within 48 hours of your visit. We walked right in and bypassed the one-hour long line. Here are some great tips. Afterward, we walked around the store, checking out all the pretty decorations and then headed outside to see the window displays. Helen Grace will tell you that the stores and window were her favorite things about NYC. This one was especially neat. As you walked past it, your shadow would loosely reflect on the sky backdrop as twinkling stars. Then, it was on to the subway for HG’s first ride. We just rode it for two stops to get to Rockefeller Plaza, and HG was taking it all in. She really liked the thrill of it, but the loud noises bothered her.  She said it was so fun, but she didn’t want to do it again. Waiting and watching Now THIS was the view I had been looking forward to my whole life! AHHHH!!! And look who took a break from Macy’s to come skating with us! From afar, she didn’t want to have anything to do with him, but he came up to us as soon as we got on the ice. She was fine with it when she was up close to him. She was so cold that she only made it one SLOW lap, and then all she could think about was hot chocolate and getting back to the warm hotel room. We ran over to Bouchon Bakery and grabbed hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie. On the two-block walk back to the hotel, she wouldn’t let go of the cookie, and her hands were frozen by the time we arrived. Mama wore her out that morning! After a lot of begging on my part, I finally got her to leave the room for a late lunch. Even at 12:45, every place had an hour wait, so I headed to the cafe at the top of Saks, Cafe SFA, thinking that would be less crowded. Well, it was packed, but with some kind of Christmas miracle, the two of us quickly got a table- and it was overlooking Rockefeller Plaza across the street!!!! I was in hog heaven. And HG was much more interested in her drawing than my excitement or the view. Her writing and reading skills are coming along at lightning speed. She wrote ‘zoo’ in the top right corner with absolutely no help from me, and I about fell out of my chair. Earlier, while I was taking a pic of the Rockefeller Christmas tree, she looked across the street at Saks and said, “Mama! There are those yeti snow things!” I had shown her a picture of them from a friend before we left on our trip, and that girl picked them right out with no direction. After lunch, we checked out the yetis in the Saks windows. We headed over to St. Patrick’s, which under heavy construction. Can’t believe they actually still have mass there with all the noise and mess. Helen Grace lit one candle for Peggy and one for Spiffer.We were headed back to the hotel for naptime when John called to say he was done with all his meetings. We decided to push through nap and head to Central Park for a carriage ride. It might have been better in theory because the temps were in the high 20’s, but it sure was beautiful with all the snow, the setting sun, and Christmas lights. When HG wasn’t complaining of the cold, her eyes were trying to close. The horse’s rhythm was putting her right to sleep! Since she was so sleepy, we tried to catch a cab and go back to the hotel, but after 45 minutes of not finding a cab and because we were turning into blocks of ice, we decided to go ahead and eat dinner at Rothmann’s. She essentially laid on the bench, covered in John’s coat, the whole time. While we were walking around though, we saw some great Christmas lights and decorations on Fifth Avenue. Here are the holiday themed windows at Bergdorf Goodman’s (Valentine’s Day, April Fools’ Day). AMAZING creature at Bulgari I kept calling this a star, and HG kept saying, “It’s a SNOWFLAKE, Mama!” Oh, Tiffany’s, how much do I love you! We finally made it back to the hotel, and HG was asleep by 7:30. Reminded me of how we spent a Saturday night in LA with a flu-ridden little girl this past March. At least we got to rest well after a busy day. When we woke up on Tuesday morning, it was SNOWING! HG flipped out. She was set on finding a doughnut, so off we went to Dunkin Donuts in the snow. Sweet success! We had a quick shopping expedition, and then it was time to head to the airport- a bit early since they were expecting 1-3 inches of snow that day. I snapped a quick pic of Grand Central Station as we drove by. This is the scene we saw when we got to Laguardia. Luckily, my hubby is a savvy traveler, and he knew we were not going to make the 50 minute connection in Detroit. He got us to the gate early enough to catch the earlier flight to Detroit (that had been a little delayed), and they had a few extra seats. We literally walked directly onto the plane, and I was thankful HG and I had just made a bathroom stop while John got our bags checked in! We still waited an hour for the plane to be de-iced, but we made it to Detroit in plenty of time and even sat down for a nice meal before our flight home. And for the record, Detroit looked just like NYC- covered in snow. We saw a beautiful sunset on the way home to Memphis. Our bags didn’t make it home that night, but they arrived Wednesday afternoon. We were so thankful to sleep in our own beds that night that we didn’t care about our suitcases!