The evening before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the balloons are inflated (of course), and if you happen to be in New York, you can have a look at them while they are still on the ground. We have done this before with Chris’s sister Julie many years ago, and at that time it was a relatively relaxing experience. Not so much this time. Very strict rules for viewing, as seen on this map from go.nyc.about.com:

 

We took the train down to 81st and Central Park West, walked along 81st to Columbus Ave, saw a few balloons, took some pictures, noticed the massive crowds waiting in line to view balloons at 79th, turned around, got back on the train and came home to a quiet, calm apartment.

 

Yipes!

Here some of the pics that Chris took before we left the craziness. You can see the silhouettes of the people against the balloons:

 

 

 

 

 

If you watch the parade tomorrow on T.V., you’ll see these same balloons!

You might see us among the crowd of millions, too – if we can stand it. 😉