Day 2 … Christmas Eve in the Big City

2009 January 1

by vinsonraiders

So Christmas Eve, we got up kind of late (for us) at about 8am. David went down to Dunkin’ Donuts (conveniently located outside our front door) and grabbed us some bagels. It was really cold, wet and windy…so we bundled all up. David ran out to Whole Foods to grab the last few things we needed for Christmas Dinner at Cathy’s apartment.

We knew Cathy would probably be getting off early from her work at GAM, so we didn’t plan to do a lot in the morning. We headed over to Toys ‘R Us in Times Square. They have the most awesome stuff there! A giant 3 story ferris wheel, a moving T-REX, a life-size Barbie House, and the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building made entirely out of Legos. Complete with King Kong! It was so great. We met a nice family from London and talked to them while we waited in line. Cathy called while we were in line and got off even earlier than we thought. So once done with the Ferris Wheel, we headed to Rockefeller Center where Cathy works.

She took us on a tour of her office and we took pics out of the window of the Rockefeller Tree and Ice Rink. It was a great view! We went up to the Top of the Rock and it was freezing! We took some pics and then huddled together to keep warm. Then we headed down below the Rock and got some snacks at Dean & Deluca. Good, but expensive snacks! After that we headed back to our hotel to rest a bit and get ready to go to dinner.

We got all gussied up and took a few (we were running late) pictures in front of the hotel Christmas Tree, then snagged a cab to head to Central Park and Tavern on the Green. It was so packed, you couldn’t even move in the lobby. It was decorated so cool though – I mean obnoxious, but really cool! They put us in the Park Room, which had old murals of Central Park in the 1800’s. Once we were seated, they had carolers roaming around asking for requests. They were all dressed victorian. So they asked Cal and this is so funny – he asks for Jingle Bell Rock! They were such sports and got out the bells and sang it really cute. Teased that the people who sang Jingle Bell Rock surely were dressed the same as them. Cal finally got over being a bit shy and started singing with them. Very cute.

The adults all had steak, potatoes, green beans and the kiddos had turkey, dressing and the fixin’s. Then we all had a dessert sampler, but couldn’t eat that much of it – we were stuffed! After that we split and Cathy went home and we went back to hotel.

Very fun day.

Later.