2010 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Each year I try to take advantage of living in New York City during the holidays.

I've seen the department store window displays. I've watched the Grand Central light show. I took in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Christmas tree.

This year, I nearly did nothing. It was cold; I was lazy.

But I would not be defeated. The Christmas spirit would prevail.

So after work Monday I headed north toward Rockefeller Center expecting the worst. Paul and I visited the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree at night only once before -- our first winter here in 2007. It was a Saturday night, and the crowds were so thick that I could have lifted my feet and still never have touched the ground.

This year wasn't nearly that bad. In fact, I could actually see empty splotches of sidewalk! The only thing to watch out for were other people's cameras -- it was impossible to walk five feet without ruining someone's shot. I'm probably in a lot of vacation photos right now.

Yes, it was cold. And yes, my nose probably resembled Rudolph's. But I got my dose of Christmas cheer for the year. Happy holidays!

 

Spring at Rockefeller Center

There's probably 1 flag for every 20 tourists at Rockefeller Center on a nice spring evening. Maybe everyone wants to pretend they're on the set of "30 Rock"?

Rockefeller Center at Night

It's one of those iconic pictures of New York, one that comes to mind even if you've never visited the city: ice skating underneath the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

But you can ice skate at Rockefeller Center even when the tree is gone, without a line and with more room to actually skate, if Thursday night was any indication.


The night was mild and the ice was emptier than I expected. I was briefly tempted to return over the weekend to skate until I remembered that I can't actually ice skate. Actually, my right leg can skate while my left foot just gets dragged along. And I can't stop.

My dreams of ice skating shattered, I turned back to the camera. Much better.

Christmas (and crowds) at Rockefeller Center

We saw the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center on Saturday for the first (and probably last) time.

The crowds were horrific, not only at the tree but for about the three blocks surrounding it. Police officers blocked about every other crosswalk because people were stopping traffic, so everyone on the sidewalks were at a standstill until the walk light came on. Even then we could barely move.

The crowd was so thick at the tree that we couldn't even get close enough to see the ice skaters below. I suspect that if we would have gone up to the second floor of the neighboring NBC store we could have seen the rink. By that time I was too tired out to even try.

To top it all off, I just didn't think the tree was that impressive. Both Paul and I thought it would be larger. I mean, it's neat, but it's just a tree with lights. I'm glad we saw it once, but it'll probably be awhile before I see it again.

Paul's birthday was Friday. Per tradition, the birthday boy got to choose his favorite restaurant for supper, so we went to the Heartland Brewery, of course. But before that, I presented him with a present-- an ounce of Sam Adams' Utopia beer at a bar in Brooklyn. For Paul, this was a lot more exciting than it sounds. He actually insisted I take a photo of him with it. An ounce of that costs about as much as four pints of normal beers, so he fully appreciated it!