A repost from our NYC trip in 2014. I realize Christmas is over but I meant to post this a few weeks ago and forgot. So here it is anyway.
Take me back to last Friday morning when my mom, my sister, my daughter and I got up at 5:30am to sneak down to the Rock to see the lit Norway Spruce in serenity and awe. We were finally able to linger on the park benches and just take in this majestic sight (with only 3 or 4 other strangers with the same idea)…the symbol of Christmas..probably around the world . New York City knows how to do Christmas….all the way from the Salvation Army volunteers bopping to Feliz Navidad, to the Snowflake light show on the SAKS building at night, to the store window displays, and the Rockettes Christmas spectacular (aptly named), to the hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks at Byrant park skating rink and SAKS Narnia décor on the main floor with jazz band….NYC was the epitome of everything I ever thought Christmas was about. The decorations and the lights…over the top. Luckily my house back home was already decorated but just wait until next year. We will bring NYC here.
The clerks in the stores wish you “Merry Christmas” (not Happy Holidays or Celebrate Happy and Seasons Greetings). In fact, while we were in New York, a worthy news item was how Washington was trying to preserve the true meaning of Christmas and had a live nativity scene out on the lawn. The Rockettes Christmas spectacular, while having amazing special effects and music and dancing and Santa and 3D glasses, finished off the show with the most awe inspiring, praise worthy Christmas pageant I’ve ever seen. Opulent but spine tingling…the night stars and THE star and the majesty of the three kings and the focus on the baby Jesus in a manger….I glanced over at mother and she was balling like a baby she was so moved. She even heard Kanye West rap the words “Only Jesus can save us” at the free Aids benefit concert that we were privileged to be at. We even had a wave from Regis Philbin from the US Today studio on the windowed ground level across from the Rockefeller centre.
We happened to be on top of the Empire State building on the clearest night of the week (the week that we visited). The view of the city lights was breath taking…if it hadn’t been so cold we could have stayed up there all evening. This same sunny clear day we visited Ground Zero and paid our respects to the fallen of 9/11 followed by a ferry ride out to stand with Lady Liberty on her island. The history of Ellis Island pulled at our heart strings and I could just feel the range of emotions that immigrants coming to America felt when landing on the shores of New York to pursue the American Dream.
Walking down 5th Ave. after night fall (at 4:00pm) was a wonderful New York moment….passing Ralph Lauren and Harry Winston and Tiffany’s and Bergdorf Goodman’s all decked out for Christmas. We decided to stop in at Bergdorf’s ( did you know that all of these department stores seem to have 9 floors and the Christmas decorations are always on the 9th floor?) and of course we went into FAO Swartz (I have to admit I was a little disappointed when my credit card bill registered my purchase as “Toys R Us”….lost a bit of the magic for me). Visiting Macy’s with its “Believe” slogans everywhere brought home the Miracle on 34th Street message – which is more than just believing in Santa Clause but rather about having faith and hope in mankind and a higher being – for me, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Bloomingdales, Central Park, Park Plaza Hotel…all icons of New York City were visited and photographs taken. Our photo journal of the reality that felt like a dream. And the Starbucks….on every corner. Our favorite one though was the Mother of all Starbucks…with two service counters and an open photo booth where we could pose for pictures and email them immediately to anyone whose email we had memorized and we did. Every day…almost.
The open air bus tours were a great idea….we saw a lot of New York we would never have seen on foot. Speaking of feet, my 82 year old mother, kept pace with us for four days. She didn’t miss a thing thanks to her new memory foam joggers.
But the highlight of this experience (which was a Bucket list item for all of us) was sharing these New York Christmas moments with each other. Sharing the experience made the experience.
Precious moments,
Special people,
Happy faces,
I can see.
Somewhere in my mem’ry,
Christmas joys all around me,
Living in my mem’ry,
All of the music,
All of the magic,
All of the fam’ly home here with me.
The Red Plaid Apron 