Christmas in New York City

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by Barb, first post of 2024, first post of the year from Key West

This was the year our kids and their families spend with their in-laws, so Bill and I were on our own. For a lot of good logistical reasons, we planned to spend Christmas in New York City, along with Bill’s sister, and her daughter (who lives there). Then, one by one, the logistical reasons faded away, logistical challenges took their place, and I started to lose my enthusiasm for the idea.

But then, as the days counted down, my mood changed again and I began to get excited.

We arrived in the city on Thursday night, December 22nd. Our hotel was the Tempo by Hilton, just opened in August, right in Times Square. The address was on Broadway, but the hotel was on 47th and 7th. Bill and I spent the hour between 10:30 pm and 11:30 pm driving through massive numbers of people and traffic and blocked off roads trying to find the entrance. Snarky words may have been exchanged between the driver and the passenger (and vice versa).

But then we got there and it was marvelous. The valets know how to unload a car on a busy street and whisked it off. The hotel was bustling with holiday tourists. Our room, typical of Manhattan, “wasn’t big enough to swing a cat.” (Note to cat lovers: This expression is not a reference to an actual cat, but to a cat o’nine tails, a multi-tailed whip used as punishment in the British Army and Navy. Maybe an almost as unpleasant reference, but invariably the expression my mother used to refer to a small hotel room. I carry on her legacy here.) But we looked right over Times Square. (And motorized room-darkening shades when needed.)

The next day, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for no particular reason except that we hadn’t been in quite awhile.

There was a special exhibit on Manet and Degas, a happy find for me because I love to see how creative people influence one another, both contemporaries (as in this case) or across generations.

Bill and I started a new thing in Paris this year. When we return to a museum we’ve been to several times and have seen all the “highlights,” we wander around, without a map or guide, completely lost to see what’s around the next corner. You can stumble across some delightful surprises that way. At one point, we were so lost we had to ask a guard how to get out. He pointed out the way, but then frowned a little and said, “Unless you want to see the Christmas tree. Then go that way.” Did we? Of course.

The tree is surrounded by 130 or so 18th century Neapolitan creche figures. Pretty amazing.

That night we walked around Rockefeller Plaza and the surrounding area.

The spectacular display by Dior on the Saks Fifth Avenue building.
The windows were wonderful, too,…
…including this one of the display above us.
Rockefeller Center tree
I remember skating here as a child. There was a restaurant downstairs where we would go for hot chocolate afterwards.

The weather was perfect the whole time we were in New York. Cool enough so you remembered it was Christmas, but not cold. None of the nose-reddening, cheek-chapping freezing wind that can happen in the city.

Rockefeller Plaza Christmastime selfie. In 2009, I was working in New York City and lived in an apartment right behind this scene. (If you kept going back through the walkway to 48th Street. I watched the lighting of the Christmas tree from under my bulding’s portico.)

Both Bill’s sister and our niece work jobs with variable schedules and it took a long time to know who would be available to do what, when. By the time we were booking things, there weren’t many tickets to mutually agreeable shows to be found. Finally, I said that for nostalgia reasons going back to my childhood, I would be happy to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, so that is what we did.

We went to a matinee. I thought we might be the only people there without kids. (We weren’t.) I was a little worried when they announced the show was 90 minutes with no intermission but the kids around us were completely entranced and incredibly well behaved. Their gasps of appreciation added to our enjoyment of the show.
Dinner at Tavern on the Green.
Gingerbread Tavern on the Green. Reminds me of two years ago when I posted about the gingerbread house at the Biltmore estate.

But then, when schedules did solidify, something amazing occurred. A Christmas Eve day matinee of Merrily We Roll Along was added and there were tickets! It felt like it was done especially for us. My niece was convinced it would be all understudies, but the main cast was there.

The mid-century modern set. Very Versatile. The musicians are in the penthouse above.
The show was as great as we expected–and I could totally see why it was a flop in 1981.
Christmas Eve dinner at a great Italian place in Greenwich Village.
And Christmas brunch the next day at La Grande Boucherie

A good time was had by all!

The day after Christmas it was time to get back on the road to wend our way to Key West, stopping to see my brother’s new house in Baltimore and my daughter-in-law and granddaughter in Roanoke along the way.

Readers: Did you do something special or fun over the holidays? Were you on the road? Tell us about it in the comments.

Most photos by Bill Carito. https://www.billcaritophotography.com/

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Published by Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of twelve Maine Clambake Mystery novels and six novellas. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

37 Thoughts

  2. Thanks for sharing your city Christmas! We had a very quiet time with no family in town, but enjoyed a couple of gatherings with good friends in the week prior, and some great food. Glad you arrived in KW safely!

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  3. BARB: Thanks for sharing your NYC Christmas adventure. I have never been to the city during that time of year.

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    1. What a fun trip, Barb! This was our first holiday season as empty nesters, so we enjoyed having our kids visit. Enjoy Key West!

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  4. Dear Barb, Having lived in NYC for 25 yrs. I went to grammar school and high school there. Graduated from St. Patrick’s Cathedral back in 1970. I also sang with my Glee Club at the Christmas tree 4 years. What a wonderful growing up life I had. So glad you enjoyed your time in the best city ever.

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  5. Barb, your trip sounds wonderful for you and your family.

    Other than going to my sister’s for dinner, I really wasn’t on the road at all. It was a low-key Christmas with no particular big special event taking place. Which is just how I like it.

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  6. Beautiful photos! I spent Christmas Day with my brother and nieces in his new home. It was exactly how I wanted to spend the day. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com

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  8. We had expected our Christmas Day to be really quiet. It’s just hubby and me after out living all the others but one of hubby’s sisters that lives in another state. However, early Christmas morning (they know we are very early risers), we got a call from the young man that build our home that’s also become a wonderful friend. Once he knew we were at home and hadn’t traveled somewhere, he extended an invitation to come have Christmas dinner with his family. Once he assured us we wouldn’t be intruding on his families festivities we agreed. It the best Christmas we have had in some time. For this Mennonite family to include us touched our hearts. The food was fabulous and the conversation was a delight. Even though they don’t have Christmas trees or the regular rush for opening gifts, just being able to have young kids around on Christmas allowed us to once again see Christmas through a child’s eye. One thing is for sure – this will be one Christmas we won’t forget for years to come.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  9. We did a similar NYC visit, but the weekend before yours! (As you know, trying to find a date that works for everyone gets harder ever year.) Wasn’t that Dior display amazing? I’m glad you had a great time. Happy travels south!

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  10. What a fantastic trip, Barb. Love the photos!

    We didn’t go anywhere for Christmas, but both of my kids spent the whole day with us (shocking) and The Boy brought over his girlfriend for dinner. A day in front of the fire, eating cookies, and talking. It was perfect.

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  12. Barbara, thank for one more bit of Christmas memories. NYC was where my mother and her best friend always went shopping one Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas…dropping their kids with grandmas. As I got older, last two years of highschool, Mother made these Christmas trips with me…always had to see Saks front, the skating (how I wished), and the spectacular interiors of all the stores. This year (2023) has been a Christmas of lots of memories (and damp eyes), but so beautiful. Thank you for adding this one more day.

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    1. What beautiful memories we have both of us. My grandparents lived in Manhattan and that’s where my original memories of Christmas time in New York come from.

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  13. Now I miss New York! I haven’t been back since 1979. I grew up in it’s shadow, and lived there from 77-79. Never missed it until now. It’s energy came through in your photos. Looks like you had a great time! Is the restaurant on the rink gone? They used to have great hamburgers.

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  14. Sounds like a fabulous trip.

    I was in Northern California with my family. My brother is a pastor, so we had Christmas Eve morning and night services this year, so it was a quieter visit than it might have been otherwise. Plus, I was dealing with a cough that is finally going away. But it was still a great visit.

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    1. I am so glad you are getting over this cough. There seems to be one going around that hangs on forever. I’m so glad you had a good, if quiet, Christmas with the family this year.

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  15. Happy 2024, Barb! What a wonderful travelogue!!! I was right there with you as I read about your adventures in the big apple. I am so happy for you that you had this experience, and that you also were able to see family on the way to Key West. Enjoy your stay in the warmth of this beautiful locatiion. My wife and I were going to spend it with our son and his family, but for the 4th. year in a row they were plagued by Covid, so we all agreed it was best of we did not come to visit them. It was a downer, especially because nobody wants to know their ooved ones are sik…and at Christmastime, yet! We had to go out and buy groceries, made a simple meal, and stayed home as 2 love birds, reading, putting jigsaw puzzles together, and FaceTiming with the grands. We had an amazing together time, since we so enjoy each other’s company…we will celebrate our 55th. on March 02, and we are so blessed in every way! I wish for a peaceful and joyful new year for all of us! Luis at ole dot travel

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    1. Oh! I am so sorry. Ever since the pandemic, I never believe any plans are going to happen until they are actually happening. I’m glad you had a good, quiet day and hope yu can make up the family time later.

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  16. We just missed each other, as my son and I spent all day Wednesday in the city, stayed the night in a Times Square hotel, and left the afternoon you arrived! The weather was perfect, just as you said. It certainly gets you into the spirit. A few days before, we spent 2 days in Providence, RI and Newport, visiting one of the mansions all decorated for the holiday.

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    1. My friend and blog commenter Vida used to live in Newport and when our kids were young we usually visited during the Christmas season. So many happy memories!

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  18. I love NYC. We had a grandnephew in the Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2010 on the NYC float. It was my sister, niece, grandnephew, and me. Then my nephew and his wife came a few days later. It was a magical time with family. I had not met my grandnephew yet (he was 11), so it was so cool (we now live in Georgia, and they are in Texas). I would love to go at Christmas, but it is not the same place as it was then. We went to Brooklyn to eat Thanksgiving dinner at a first cousin’s daughter’s house and many relatives were there. Great times for us. Glad that you got to do that trip.

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