Twelve hours after my parents’ arrival on the East Coast, we were off to New York City for two days of Christmas magic. We took the train in from Princeton Junction and hit the town running:

Macy’s on 34th St and the Empire State building:

Macy’s window displays were themed, “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.”

A bit rainy toward the end of our walk to the hotel.

Almost there!

We made it!! At little wet but we made it. Only one of our rooms was ready for early check in, but that’s all we needed for a quick-dry session with a hair dryer before being ready to hit the town.

Once dried off, we headed out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we saw knights in armor (including Henry VIII’s!), Egyptian tombs, priceless works of art, and countless antiquities. As much as we saw, we could not nearly do justice to all there is to see!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Egyptian tomb you can enter as read about in, ‘The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler.’

Our big night out! We walked past Park Ave….

Past the Empire State Building…

Past Saks Fifth Avenue….

to Rockefeller Plaza:

Where we dined at the Rock Center Cafe:

We stopped for a photo op after dinner by the tree…

Looking from Rockefeller Plaza towards Saks Fifth Avenue

Then continued on to….Radio City Music Hall! We didn’t tell the girls we were seeing the Rockettes until we were at dinner. Andy’s parents got us tickets for Christmas. They said it is a “must see” if you are in New York at Christmas and they were not wrong. The show was amazing!

Trinity suffered her first “feet tortured by heels” experience but it didn’t dampen her spirits and Boppa came to the rescue (of BOTH of us!) with some band-aides from a well placed drug store. We were the ‘blister sisters.’ To buck up we channeled Dolvette from ‘The Biggest Loser’ who once said, “It HURTS to look good! And I’m in PAIN every day!” 

All patched up. We continued inside. The girls were a smidge excited: (excuse the finger in the picture, her face just captured it all)The whole show was spectacular. The finale with the live camels and sheep at the nativity scene was incredible. I stole countless glances at the girls throughout the show. Their expressions were priceless.

After the show we walked back towards 5th Ave and watched the light and music show on the face of Saks Fifth Avenue for a while before our littlest buglet was too tired to continue. Daddy continued back to the hotel with her while the rest of us dawdled to see the lights and windows along the way.

St. Patrick’s cathedral was open:

Saks Fifth Avenue windows were themed “Ice Queen” and many featured world landmarks:

We also enjoyed a lingering view back onto Rockefeller Plaza before heading back to our beds.
The next morning began with a long walk around Central Park. The unseasonably warm weather meant it was perfect for walking the city. 

Bethesda Fountain:

Heavy fog gave the city a particularly mystic feel:

By sheer coincidence we were in the city at the same time as one of my best childhood friends. She and her husband were in town from Boston along with her parents, who had flown in from Hong Kong. They have an apartment just a couple of blocks off of the park and invited us to join them for coffee. Timing was impeccable, as it was JUST starting to rain. SO fun to see Lizzie and Rob and her parents, Mimi and Peabody, as well as her brother Robert, in town from D.C.! HKIS reunions are always fun. A lovely and leisurely visit gave us rest from walking around, kept us inside during the rain, and, best of all, let us catch up with old friends. All too soon we were on our way!

We decided a trip to New York is not complete without either some  New York Pizza or a good deli. We happened upon pizza first.

All fueled up, we headed back to 5th Ave to peruse more windows: Bergdorf Goodman’s:

Tiffany’s: One last stop at Rockefeller Center for a sip of something fun. 

Shortly after this we began our journey home. We saw magical lights, priceless works of art and history, enjoyed the amazing Rockettes Christmas show, ogled the Rockefeller tree, ate great food, visited with some of our favorite people, walked Central Park, saw some pretty ornate window displays, and even witnessed a proposal on the ice skating rink of Rockefeller Plaza. It really was the perfect trip!