Seeing Macy’s parade live, the ‘experience of a lifetime’

NEW YORK – All these years, and we thought the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade meant sitting around the den with our aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws watching the marching bands and cartoon-character balloons float by on the TV while the turkey roasted in the oven.

Not until last Thanksgiving – when my daughter, her grandmother and I ventured to New York City to see my son march in the parade with his high school band – did we discover that it really meant standing shoulder-to-shoulder with 2.5 million of our new best friends in hopes of just getting a glimpse of the bands and balloons.

Had we really wanted to see the parade, we would have been better off staying at home and watching it on TV.

But then we wouldn’t have been able to feel the excitement of being there in person, of being in the middle of the action, of having to peer around the 7-foot-4 basketball player from Gonzaga University to see the big Snoopy balloon go by.

And even though our feet got wet and our toes got cold, it was the experience of a lifetime – something everybody should do at least once.

After all, they don’t call it “the longest running show on Broadway” for nothing. This Thanksgiving is the 81st annual parade.

If you ever end up going yourself, we offer these tips we learned as rookies:

•Watch the balloons being inflated. To get in the parade spirit early, go the day before to the American Museum of Natural History along 77th and 81st streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Viewing is open to the public from 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday.

•Arrive at the crack of dawn to get the best viewing spots. The parade starts at 9 a.m., but early risers stake out the choice locations by 6:30 at the latest.

•After you pick your spot, stay put. Once the parade starts, it’s almost impossible to move around. It’s something I found out the hard way when I foolishly tried to follow my son’s band as it made its way down Broadway.

•Pack a poncho. The 2006 Macy’s Parade was one of the soggiest ever, and even though we came prepared, after standing around in a steady drizzle for about five hours, we still got soaked.

•The temperature, which was in the 40s, was just chilly enough to make it perfectly miserable. So wear plenty of layers of clothing to stay warm. We did that, too, but we still got cold.

•Leave your folding chairs at home. Most people stand up anyway, so that’s just something to get in the way.

For more information, go to the parade’s official Web site at www.macysparade.com.