Thanks to numerous suggestions from forum members, my family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) had a great time in NYC during Thanksgiving. Here are some of the highlights.
We rode Amtrak from our town in Central Virginia up to Penn Station the day before Thanksgiving. It was snowing the morning of our departure and our train was 2 1/2 hours late. Once aboard, we had to sit in café car until seating opened up in one of the passenger cars. Heat was on full blast (made my cell phone overheat!) due to cold snowy weather. Despite the delays, train travel is a huge upgrade over fighting traffic through DC, MD, PA, and NJ or sitting out weather delays at the airport. Lots of room, footrests, outlets to plug in your devices, free to move around, plenty of room to store bags and coats overhead, and everyone was friendly.
Once we arrived in NYC, we dropped our stuff off at the Radisson on 32nd Street and headed out on foot in the dark and rain to go to Grand Central Terminal to get some food. Both the concierge and the doorman told us to take a right on 5th Avenue but after 20 minutes of walking that way, it became obvious that we were headed the wrong way. No worries, we backtracked and eventually found it. We headed downstairs to the food level and went to Juniors for burgers and milkshakes. Great food and a great recommendation by the forum. Plenty of other choices to eat as well.
Headed back upstairs to the main level to take in GCT. Wow, this place is huge. Shops, restaurants, a market, even an Apple Store, and lots of people and trains in every direction. Interesting sign in the bathroom urged people to not bathe while using the facilities---not a message we typically see in small town Virginia. We walked around quite a bit as I was hoping to see some decorations and the train layout at the museum store. Even though it was Thanksgiving Eve, no luck on either front. Some decorations outside the Terminal and could not find the layout at all.
Walked back through 5th Avenue and took in some amazing window displays and my daughter snuck in a quick trip to Urban outfitters. Back to the room for bed as we wanted to get up early for the Macy's parade.
Thursday-Thanksgiving Day--we headed back up 5th Avenue to go to Bryant Park which out hotel and others mentioned was a great place to see the parade. Bryant Park is very close to the New York Library and only about 10 blocks from our hotel. Once we got there, we were turned away by police. Apparently we needed tickets to get in to the park and had to keep moving. News to us! We walked about 4 more blocks and started following the crowd to the parade route. A vendor had fresh cider donuts and hot chocolate for sale on the sidewalk, couldn't pass that up. At 8:15 in the morning, the crowd was already 7 rows deep but we settled in and waited for the parade. Very cold, with sleet and wind that morning but everyone in good spirits. The parade finally got going with the Macy's balloons and a marching band. Lots of floats, small and large balloons. Thomas was the first large one to come by, Snoopy, Spiderman, Paddington, Hello Kitty, SpongeBob, Wimpy Kid, Power Ranger, and others went by mixed in with marching bands, cheerleaders, and floats with some people we had heard of (Kiss, Jonas brother, and Idina Menzel) and some that only kids seemed to know. Amazing how they keep such large balloons out of harm's way with buildings, streetlights, signs all nearby. No incidents except for a small protest before the parade began. Santa was last in the lineup and waved to the crowd signaling the true start of the holiday season.
We caught a cab to a restaurant near the village that I made a reservation with the day before. They had a traditional Thanksgiving menu (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, beans, yams, and pumpkin pie) served family style. The food was just okay, the wait staff seemed overwhelmed and forgot some of our helpings, the bartender had a meltdown right in front of us, and then they insisted on cash payment for the meal which was somewhat pricey to begin with. Not a fan.
After food, we caught another cab back to mid-town to go to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes. I have seen the Rockettes before but never been to RCMH and what an amazing place with an amazing history. The show was entertaining, we even got "snowed on" during the show. After the show, we headed out to see the skating rink and decorations at Rockefeller Center. The huge tree was there but the tree lighting would not take place until another week or so.
The line to skate was long and it was still very cold that night so we decided to keep walking and look for more lights and decorations. We even diverted our route to go through Times Square and to Macy's flagship store at 9pm. I dragged everyone up to the 8th floor to see Santa land but no Santa, no trains, and not much to look at. One floor down was their Christmas shop with lots of decorations and a few trains (Snowman Express) that were piled up under displays. 2 days in the books, and not one train layout had been seen yet. Everyone was hungry but it was Thanksgiving night and not a lot of places open at that hour. We found a coffee shop and got some sandwiches and walked back to our room.
Friday-My wife and daughter set out to do some black Friday shopping early in the morning. My son and I walked back to GCT, stopping at a hole in the wall pizza place that had 99 cent slices. REALLY GOOD. Perfect crust, cheese and consistency. Made it to GCT and this time found the museum store right away and walked in to take a look at their layout. It is really well done and big. Lots of buildings, scenery, levels, and trains. Very crowded with kids young and old watching the trains. Liked the model train displayed on the walls too, sort of a hall of fame for trains right there for everyone to see.
Next stop was FAO Schwartz. Huge line to get in but it moved quickly. Found their train layout on the top floor and even though it was smaller than GCT layout, still nicely done. One of the Lionel trains was racing around at warp speed which my son enjoyed. Didn't see much train inventory, but the 1:43 taxi cabs looked great. Have to get one next time I am in town. They had lots of other neat stuff, legos, build your own racecar, video games, r/c drones and helicopters, and more.
Walked across the plaza to The Plaza Hotel to check out their decorations and grab a hot dog from the street vendor outside in front of the park. Went to Times Square with trips to Footlocker and Toys r Us, both with tons of people. No trains at either stop and we had to fight to get out the door as a large protest was forming in Times Square and they were right in front of the door. Quick stop for a snack of doughnuts and a lobster roll and we got swarmed in by another group of protestors that were marching right down the street. This group was about a block long. Police followed, helicopters hovered, tv crews stood by. My son wanted a Christmas tie but was overwhelmed by the selection at Macy's. We bought matching ties and the checkout lady was nice enough to give us 10% off because we were from out of town. Herald Square becoming the focus point for the protestors and police had set up at one end of the square with the 4 tv trucks interviewing important looking people.
Met the girls and my daughter wanted to continue shopping even though it was 8 pm. Went back to Macy's and I found the toy section and saw the Lionel display was partially set up but not functional yet. They had Lionchief starter sets and all Lionel was 20% off. Didn't buy anything. Made it back to hotel at 10 pm. Whew!
Saturday-My daughter wanted to squeeze in more shopping before we had to go to train station. I took her out for 90 minutes and then we checked out of our room and were going to hail a cab. Ronnie at the hotel worked the door and the street and had been talking to us all week. Every time we saw him he would jump out in traffic, blow his whistle and tell us his real job was a football referee every weekend. Ronnie would announce a penalty, the player involved, and blow his whistle again to get traffic moving. He was quite a character. I told him we needed a cab to Penn Station and he asked what for, it was only 2 blocks away. Guess we got hoodwinked by our first cab driver when we arrived in town. But he gave us one more penalty call (a booth review!) and sent us on our way.
Walked to Penn Station, grabbed some food for lunch on the train and had an uneventful ride back to Virginia. Train was right on time.
It was a great trip, nearly everyone we met was nice or interesting, the parade was fantastic, and we all enjoyed the way the Big Apple goes all out with the decorations and displays for the holidays. We tried to do as much as we could. Next time I will definitely get to the botanical garden. Thank you again for your tips and suggestions!
