The Goodrums

In spite of really yucky weather (freezing cold and pouring rain), we had a great time at the Macy's Parade in New York.

We left Boston by Greyhound Bus on Wednesday afternoon. 6 1/2 hours later we finally made it to NYC (love Thanksgiving weekend traffic!). The drive should be less than 4 hours. We met Michael's parents (who came up to meet us from D.C.) in the NYC bus station and then trekked over to our hotel, which was almost directly below the Empire State Building. After dropping our stuff off, we found a little place for dinner around the corner. We spent the evening walking around - past Macy's and all the decorated department stores, up to Times Square, to Rockefeller Center with the famed (but still unlit) Christmas tree and skating rink, past the Empire State Building and more. About midnight we crashed so we could get up super early to go get a good spot for the parade.















Mom & Dad Goodrum in front of the Snoopy at Macy's

In the morning, we left the hotel around 6:30am. Ouch! We found a great spot to watch the parade (Broadway between 38th and 39th) under some scaffolding which partially shielded us from the rain. We were also standing on a subway grate - which would grace us with a blast of warm air every time a train passed (my toes were icebergs). The parade finally arrived to our spot about 10am. We had fun watching all the balloons and floats - although we were quite glad to see Santa at the end.















Michael and his mom















Jen & Mom G















Michael scoping out the parade (in a sea of people)




















The first balloon - and lots of wet people




















Snoopy!




















Scooby Doo!















The parade that keeps going... and going... and going...




















Pikachu















For the guys...















Another for the guys (Emmitt Smith)















Super Grover




















"Healthy" Mr. Potato Head (see sports bottle in his hand)















Budweiser Clydesdales




















Garfield with his teddy bear















Let Christmas begin...















Woohoo! Santa!

After the parade, we piled into the car and drove down and over the Brooklyn Bridge. We ate lunch at a McDonald's in the Bronx (not much open on Thanksgiving day) and drove through pouring rain and wild winds back to Boston - where we had a great Thanksgiving dinner thanks to Whole Foods. Man - after finding out about the Whole Foods pre-cooked, very yummy Thanksgiving Dinners (comes with precooked turkey breast, all sides, dessert, etc.) - I may never cook Thanksgiving dinner again!