Thanksgiving Memories

As I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from the comfort of my living room I am reminded of what is still to this day the most memorable Thanksgiving Day I ever had.
When I was in college and my sister and brother were in high school my mom decided that we were old enough to go to New York City for Thanksgiving. So she called her brother who has three kids around our same ages and lives in Upstate NY and we decided to have Thanksgiving in NYC.
At six in the morning on Thanksgiving morning my Mom knocked on my door.
"Carrie, we need to go get a spot to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."
"Doesn't it start at 9?"
"Yeah but we have to get a spot."
So Mom and I went and secured our place on the parade route.
The it started to drizzle. Fortunately we were able to buy umbrellas right away from a person selling them on the street for $2. By the time my stepdad and sister got to the parade at 8:30 the umbrellas were $5.
Perhaps you have watched this parade on TV year after year. I bet you didn't know that the area right before the carpet where the acts perform for TV is known as the "Quiet Zone" This is where the acts stop and get into formation before they get to the carpet in front of Macy's to do their big act for national TV. If you want to see Kenny Rogers sing "The Gambler" this is not the place to do this. Nobody performs here. It is the "Quiet Zone". Acts have to be quiet here so that they don't interfere with the performance of the act in front of them. This is where we stood. By the time it was light enough out to read the "Quiet Zone" sign and realize what it meant it was too late to move and still get a good spot on the route.
I would like to say this happened before the age of cell phones. If we had cell phones we may have gotten a call from my uncle telling us to come watch the parade from his warm hotel room. As it was the only person who got that call was my brother who made the wise choice to sleep in and not get rained on for five hours.
So if there was a moral of this story sometimes it is that the early bird doesn't always get the worm. Sometimes the bird who sleeps in gets to eat continental breakfast at the Marriott.
Miraculously at the end of the parade the drizzle let up.
That day we ate Thanksgiving Dinner at Tavern on the Green which I only knew from the film Ghostbusters.
Even though we stood in the rain forever that Thanksgiving was my most memorable ever. Every year my mom calls me on Thanksgiving morning and asks me if I'm watching the parade (which still doesn't come on until 9).
So Happy Thanksgiving all