There are few things as magical as New York City at Christmas time. I have been to the city 4 times and two of them were at Christmas because it is just that amazing. You'll have to excuse my photography in this blog. I was working with an Iphone 6 here as this was in 2016. But I wanted to share what I love about the New York at Christmas.
For so long I had dreamed about walking through Central Park at Christmas with a cup of hot chocolate and snowflakes in my hair. That dream finally became a reality for me in 2015 and then again in 2016, and I would go back every year if I could. The trip in 2016 was one of a lifetime. Kenzie, April and I still talk about it often. We walked through Bryant, and Central Park, we shopped, we saw HAMILTON on Broadway, we saw the Rocketts, and we went to the Jimmy Fallon show and ate amazing food. It was one of the best times of my life. There is something about Christmas that makes people so much kinder in New York. One of the many reasons its the best time to go.
I had gone the previous year at Christmas time with my beautiful friend Leigh, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do with April and Kenzie. First stop: Bryant Park. Bryant Park is so magical. It has all these vendors in glass villages lit up waiting to be visited and experienced. Just like I always dreamed, I stopped and got hot chocolate and strolled through taking in every shop. Its a great place to buy gifts since most things are local. I love everything about Bryant Park at Christmas.
I also knew that I wanted to take them to the Loeb Boathouse to eat in Central Park. Leigh and I had gone the year before, and I was in love. It exudes classy Christmas vibes. I would not miss it if I went at Christmas.
Moving right along... the highlight and the sole reason that we took this trip was because Kenzie was obsessed with Hamilton. And I do mean OBSESSED. April bought her a ticket to see Hamilton, and we decided that we would find something else to do while she watched the show because tickets were around $500 each. I laugh until I cry about this story and it is definitely one of those "you had to be there deals".
Hamilton day arrived and April and I decided to join their lottery to just see if maybe we could luck out on some cheap tickets and join Kenzie because by this time her obsession was starting to get to us and we were catching the fever too. We didn't get any lottery tickets so we decided to wait in the standby line after we dropped Kenzie off for her to go in and take her seat. We waited and... waited and... waited more and after talking to the security guard outside and realizing we had zero chance of getting in, we decided to do what all desperate ticket seeking fools do.... we purchased tickets from Stub Hub for an ungodly amount of money only to realize 5 minutes before the show started that the tickets weren't digital and we had to get them 12 blocks away....
What happened next was a blur. It was like some sort of morph between the amazing race and those New York City romance movies where people are running after the love of their life through Times Square. Only we were running after our already paid for overpriced Hamilton tickets and trying to make it back in time to even see it. I was wearing heels and of course April was not, but she needed me for my sense of direction and where to go. If you can imagine our frantic frenzy running into people basically keeping the "excuse me's, and I'm sorry's on repeat. We ran every "do not walk sign". I could not keep up with her in my shoes, and I finally called out to her that it was 4 more blocks ahead and take a left. She ran ahead and by the time I made it to the box office, they said, "she just left!!! RUN RUN!" I stopped and changed to the pair of flats that I had in my bag and ran for my life back to the Richard Rogers Theater only to find tiny April out of breath waiting for me. We didn't even miss the whole first song, and it was worth every penny. And I can say that because April paid for it and I still owe her. We will never stop laughing about that day. If you ever get the chance to see Hamilton in New York, do not pass it up. Run through times square risking it all to see it. It is worth it.
After we waited and ran for Hamilton, we went to the world's best pizza place, and waited another 1.5 hours to eat, and again it was worth it. It is hands down one of the best things I have ever eaten. If you go to New York, go to Don Antonio's in Hell's Kitchen. I'm drooling now at the thought of it. This trip taught me that all good things are worth the wait.
We finished out our trip with all the festivities. Macys, the Sacks 5th ave light show, Rockerfeller Plaza, strolling through the streets looking at all the window displays, running from a protest (I did too much running on this trip which might explain why by the end of the day I had to purchase a pair of house shoes, much to my embarrassment, to walk back to our hotel in because my feet hurt so badly. The beauty of New York City is that not a soul noticed and if they did, they sure didn't care.). Our last two nights we saw the Rockett's and Jimmy Fallon. This was also my second time to be in the audience of the Jimmy Fallon show, and it is so awesome. I highly recommend it. The trip couldn't have been better. It was 5 days of so much laughter and so much food and memories I will cherish forever. I always tell people if you can go to New York any time, then go at Christmas. There's nothing quite like it. I can feel the ache in my heart now when I watch Serindipity because I long to be back. And yes, as were were walking back to our hotel from dinner one night an ever so light snow came, and it made my heart so happy. Dreams really do come true big or small.
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