One of the traditions Chris and I have every year during the holiday season is we see the Christmas decorations and lights in Midtown, and we also visit the Rockefeller Christmas tree. This year is obviously a very different year for us all, and we’re actually here in New York to do this on Christmas Eve. There was actually a queue of people to safely at a distance view the Rockefeller tree and get a photo op. And to my pleasant surprise, there were a lot more Christmas lights than there normally are. Fifth Avenue NYC put together a number of Christmas light installations along Fifth Avenue, ranging from a dreidel, a teddy bear, a hot air ballon you can actually go into (kind of), a truck full of toys, to a NYC taxi (of course). And at the plaza right across from the Plaza Hotel, they had a number of larger than life Christmas ornaments and decorations bedazzling the entire area. It was a really beautiful early evening stroll and so fun to see, especially knowing that we are stranded here this Christmas.

It’s sad that we haven’t been able to do what we originally wanted for Christmas this year, but after experiencing how beautiful this all was, it made me realize that New York City really is quite far from the worst place to be during Christmas. This city really does do a spectacular job getting decked out in Christmas decorations… even during a global pandemic.