This year, instead of buying each other things we don’t really need, Jamie and I decided to take a short trip.

So we boarded Harley, asked our friend John to pick up our mail, and cashed in miles on 2 tickets to Bright and Shiny New York City.

Of course we’ve both been before…..just not together.

We found a hip, little (I mean seriously little; 80% of our room was bed) hotel in midtown about 4 blocks from the Empire State Building.

The rooftop bar offered up this view of that beautiful building.

 

Breathtaking. Am I right? That view sold us on the hotel….the Archer, BTW. (we had a similar view from our room as well)

Christmas in New York, how magical. Allow us to share a little of it with y’all.

I wouldn’t be a very good Catholic if I didn’t stop by St Patrick’s Cathedral.

 

Our Hotel was right next to Bryant Park/NY Public Library, and since the Holiday Market at Bryant Park was recommended by just about everyone….we waddled over there to shop, watch the blury ice skaters…..

and drink hot cider…

We started our Sunday early, before the gangs woke up, and took the subway down to Battery Park.

Hazy day, but you can still see Lady Liberty in the distance. (She’s that little grey pointy-thing between us)

There’s a new-fangled type of carousel in Battery Park now.

The Seaglass.  Instead of horses there are fish. Abstract fish. And the whole building is shaped like a nautilus.

Only 5 bucks? How could I not ride?

Jamie sat this one out. Which worked out pretty well because he could video me twirling by.

You have to pay attention, I go by fast, but I’m the big creepy guy in the green sunfish.

We walked. We walked A LOT. 7 miles on Saturday night alone, and then another 13 miles from Battery Park to Macy’s on 34th. We just got caught in the energy of the city and kept going. Good thing we brought sensible shoes. (Not the cute shoes we usually travel with).

Speaking of Macy’s. A million years ago I cut my teeth with that company learning to do department store visuals.

How great are these windows? One of my absolute favorite Christmas traditions is A Charlie Brown Christmas.

 

The tacky 1960’s Christmas trees were the best part. They looked like vintage beaded parade floats.

Lord & Taylor did a fanciful candy shop theme….Here’s 10 seconds of ginger bread men…..

We came to window shop. Since store windows are in my blood……and bi-monthly paycheck……I’m not easy to impress. Bergdorf Goodman did just that. Every window inch was covered in Swarovski crystals……

……except for Poseidon – or Neptune, depending on whether you’re Greek or Roman – he was covered in pearls. I hope the pictures show just how stunning these beauties were.

Saks Fifth Avenue, another company on my resume, put on quite a show as well. Everything in the Windows was a frosty,layered banquet in the Winter Palace. There were touches of Lady Gaga, the Ice Queen from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and a little Circ de Soile sprinkled on top.

But the real show wasn’t inside the windows. Every 10 minutes the entire building lit with a Winter Palace light show.

Because we couldn’t see everything we needed to see from the street level, we took the elevator to the Top of the Rock.

The 70th floor of Rockefeller Center. The observation deck is open until 11pm most nights, we went about 9pm, and well worth the effort. Not too cold. Not too many people. It was just right.

The view was Spec-Tac-U-Lar. One a clear day, you can see for 50 miles in all directions……but we only seemed to take pictures of the Empire State Building.

We left unseasonably-warm Dallas for even MORE unseasonably-warm New York. Monday was a record/breaking 67 degrees. Good thing we brought extra sweaters. (Yeah Right. Should have brought shorts.)

We started Monday with the latest New York tradition (at least, for everyone we know that visits there)….coffee at Ralph’s Coffee at the Polo store on 5th Ave.

Then a brisk walk to Central Park.

The Bethesda Fountain in Central Park is one of my favorite spots in the world. The story from the Bible is that the Angel Bethesda blessed the waters to give them healing powers.

Ironically, the water was drained.

Guess we’ll have to remain all “unhealed” until the next trip.

Not a whole lot of shopping on this trip. It was about the experience, remember? But I did commemorate my blurry photo of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree……

 

 Much better than any physical gift, our whole Christmas in New York City experience was just priceless.

(Well I guess we could add up all the receipts……..ugh)

But we wouldn’t dare.

Because it was priceless, I tell you.

Simply priceless