Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 101

Ever thought of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade live? Do it. It completely exceeded my expectations. And mine were high. Here's a few practical tips if you want front row seats.

1. One person from your party must pick a spot on the parade route by 5:30am at the LATEST. I would be there by 5am just to be safe. Bring tarp and blankets to claim your small piece of land.

2. Location: Anywhere along the parade route on Central Park West on the park side of the street. See below. The 60's are great.

3. Send the kids over by 7:00am because the police WON'T let you cross over to the park side after that. See below.

4. The bigger the group you watch the parade with, the better. It was like a huge playdate for my kids. Someone in our party even brought a small tent. The kids played in it until it was disassembled minutes before the parade started.

5. My feet froze. I should have worn snow boots or something similar.
6. Convince your littlest kids to wear diapers. My boys did ha
7. Don't expect to have the energy to cook a Thanksgiving meal after the parade. We were exhausted. We got home at 12:30pm, took long naps, and went over to our cousin's house in Harlem at 5pm. The timing was perfect.
8. Take a family photo. I forgot.
9. I'll keep adding to this list when I think of more. What did I miss?