Last weekend, Dan and I ventured to New York for a wedding. We were only there for two full days, so it was a quick trip. The wedding itself was on Friday, and I knew ahead of time we would likely have some time on Saturday to see a little bit of New York. Everyone I talked to before going told me if we had time we had to go see the Christmas lights in New York City.
I LOVE Christmas, and I’ve seen pictures and heard about all the Christmas decorations that go up in NYC during this time of year. I told my friends that’s what I would like to do on Saturday – none of them wanted to go into the city, but they did encourage us to make the trip since we had come that far. So, Dan and I hopped on a train and did just that!
Now, I’ve been to NYC before. This was actually my third time going into the city, so I already kind of knew what to expect. But I’ve never been there during Christmas time. And let me tell you: if I thought NYC was a busy place on a normal day, it’s WAY busier on a Saturday in December! There were SO many people. It was literally shoulder to shoulder walking down any street. At one point, I grabbed onto Dan’s arm and held on tight. When he asked me what I was doing, I just said, “I’m overwhelmed!” It definitely gave me a little bit of anxiety trying to maneuver those crowds.
We found Rockefeller Plaza and the famous Rockefeller Christmas Tree. We walked past all the Christmas displays in the windows. We walked through Central Park for a while too.
My honest opinion of the whole experience? I’m really glad we went. I think I would have regretted it if we hadn’t gone. But it was definitely a one and done experience for me. And I think Dan would agree lol.
Maybe it would be less busy if we had gone during the week instead of on a Saturday, but the number of people alone made it a little tough to enjoy after a while. It was difficult to walk down the street, and at times it was hard to stop and look at anything – unless we were waiting to cross the street – because people just kept shoving you along.
The one thing I really did want to see was the Rockefeller tree, and we were able to get close enough to see that, so I was happy. We weren’t able to get close enough to see the skating rink though. There was a sea of people in front of it, and once we got some pictures of tree, we gave up and moved along.
We may not have seen the ice-skating rink at Rockefeller, but we did see the one in Central Park. The line was a mile long, so we didn’t have time to try and skate, but it was fun to watch for a bit.
We didn’t do any shopping while we were in NYC. Neither of us are really big shoppers, and we only had a few hours before we needed to be back and meet up with my friends anyway. It was a quick adventure, but it was stressful and wonderful at the same time. Like I said, I’m really glad we went. I can say I’ve seen the decorations and experienced NYC at Christmas time. And I don’t feel the need to do it again. 🙂
You never know what something is like until you experience it yourself. And one person’s experience will be completely different than someone else’s. So, I definitely still recommend you go and check it out if you haven’t before. Plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of time to get around! If you have been before, I’d love to hear your own experience and what your thoughts were.
Until next time! 🙂
Megan Nelson