Macy's Balloons

Admittedly, going to the Macy's T-day Parade was not a priority to me when I moved here. I'd even lost interest in watching it on TV in recent years. So I was fully prepared to let the opportunity to be a part of that tradition pass me by when I read about the night BEFORE the parade. Apparently, every year people can go see the ginormous parade balloons blown up the night before. Now THIS I found interesting and a bit exciting as the balloons were really my fave part of the Macy's Parade anyway.

So, I trekked over there after work and when I got off the subway the masses were already congesting the area before we even got above ground! The amount of people did give me pause...is this worth it? Will I actually be able to see anything once I struggle thru these bodies? I was urged on by the occassional open pocket of true walking (not inching) and then the crowds converged and got even worse! I can't even imagine what the parade must be like and the lighting of the Rockefeller Tree? Forgettaboutit. JetBlue was on hand giving out free cups of cocoa. (One guy had a rocket blaster looking dispenser strapped to his back and a guy stood on either side of him with cups to fill.) I started to wait for a cup but then decided against it - I still had a street to cross and about a block to go in this crowd and hot cocoa with no lid probably wouldn't be mix well with that scenario. I trekked on...past garbage cans overflowing with the remnants of an apparent earlier promo - half eaten bags of chips.

Once the street was crossed, the block left seemed to turn into the Vegas strip where you can see your destination but it takes FOREVER to get there. I know this is a mostly family event but if I had a kid in a stroller I would NOT subject them to those crowds - they are just too vulnerable down there with people shoving by or having their parents use them as a plow to get thru people. Yikes!

Finally, balloons in clear sight! The crowds started to filter out but taking pics was a problem as constant announcements asked that you keep moving - needless to say many of my pics are blurred and have people's heads in the way but at least you get the idea.

Being around ALL those people I certainly heard a lot of interesting bits of convo. The best was hearing people trying to figure out who the balloons were. Can you guess them all?

I wish they would have had a flyer or something that would have told about how many people it takes to corral some of these balloons - many were netted down rather than just tied to keep them in place. (I'm sure it is on the internet somewhere.) It was nice to see them completely blown up, but I was curious to see how the whole process begins - perhaps I'll take a half day next year and find out! ;)

Note: The lit up creature was a dinosaur in front of the Museum. Also, I found this youtube clip from a year ago that gives a good moving visual of the experience...

When I watched the news (two sides of the block had balloons, the other two had news vans) they said the nice weather made the crowds bigger - so maybe on a not so nice day there are less people?! Once again - will maybe check and see next year!