O What Fun

My son and I were treated to a fabulous day in New York City yesterday. My cousin got tickets for the Radio City Music Hall "Christmas Spectacular" featuring the Rockettes. I'd seen the show twice before, but tickets have become prohibitively expensive.

I thought my son, who's 9, might feel as if he'd outgrown such a show, since he's all about military games and the TLC show Dogfights. But he was filled with wonder just as I still was. As it is the theater's 75th anniversary, it was made even more special.

Before and after the show, we saw the tree and watched ice skaters at Rock Center, viewed the Christmas display at Sak's Fifth Avenue (the display also included a reading of Snow People (by Rick and Ryan Zeeb) by Marlo Thomas), listened to the very beginning of a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and had a nice meal on 42nd Street. (I never thought I'd have a nice meal on 42nd Street! but the city has done a lot to improve that block between Broadway and 8th Avenue, and now there is a Madame Tussaud's and a number of family-friendly restaurants and movie theaters. Kudos.)

As we were exiting the Lincoln Tunnel on the NJ side of the Hudson River, we looked at the skyline in the dark. My son, who had nearly gotten trampled by rush-hour commuters at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, peered out the window at the twinkling lights and said, "It might be busy, but it sure is beautiful."