(One of the joys of my life has been teaching music to hundreds of young people in Hartselle and Morgan County. Through the wonder of Facebook, I am able to keep up with many of them even years later and watch as they blossom and become all God made them to be. Today’s post very likely could be given the MOST BEAUTIFUL award so far on my blog. Weston and Tina Shelton, both former students from Hartselle, recently made a Christmas trip to New York City. They graciously agreed to share both their writing and photography talents with all of you. I’m sure you will agree, after reading this and clicking on all of the photos, many more places are now added to our Bucket Lists. Thank you so much, Weston and Tina).
Photos by Weston Shelton. Be sure to click on each one.
ThereGoesConnie.com has been such a positive and uplifting social media presence, and we are honored to have been asked to write a guest post about our recent Christmas vacation to The Big Apple.
As a child, I always dreamed of Christmastime in the city. Since we are in the process of building a home and without the usual hustle and bustle of decorating and entertaining, this seemed like the perfect year to sneak away during the holidays! Now that we know New York City is such an easy trip from north Alabama, I foresee many future visits.
We arrived at the centrally located Hotel Edison on Friday evening to this lovely lobby Christmas tree.
Hotel Edison lobby
Hotel Edison is an art deco style, 1930’s boutique hotel in the heart of Times Square. If you are looking for a clean, safe and reasonably priced hotel in mid-town Manhattan, this is the place for you. If you are looking to spend significant time in the confines of the hotel and need a spacious, luxurious room, look elsewhere. After checking-in and dropping off our bags, we immediately walked the half block to Times Square where we found this high tech Christmas tree, just above which you will see the New Year’s Eve crystal ball.
The following morning we went directly to the TKTS booth in Times Square, where we purchased tickets for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular at a great price! Beware, the TKTS line looks intimidating, but moves very quickly. From there we made our way to Radio City Music Hall where we saw our next legendary tree.
Radio City Music Hall
However, the Swarovski Christmas Tree completely caught me off guard. Said to be worth over $1 Million dollars, this tree took my breath away.
The Christmas Spectacular is truly spectacular and so much more than the Rockettes’ signature kickline. From uniforms and numbers originally choreographed in 1933, to specifically engineered snow drones that float through the room, and finally the most beautiful live nativity we have ever witnessed, the show has something for everyone and exceeds the spectacular expectation.
We then made our way through Rockefeller Center to the Top of the Rock, which was my favorite view of the city (Weston preferred the Empire State Building).
Weston and Tina at the Top of the Rock.
Upon returning to the ground, we found St. Patrick’s Cathedral and this beautiful Christmas tree and yet another beautiful nativity.
Christmas tree at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral nativity scene
You will notice that the baby Jesus is absent. We understand that He makes His arrival in a moving service on Christmas Eve.
Leaving the cathedral, we found The Palace hotel located on the following block along with these two Christmas trees and a sweet gingerbread palace.
Our next stop was The Plaza Hotel, where we found this well-known tree in the lobby. Here, your child can fulfill all of her Eloise dreams or have a picture taken with a Santa who is fortunate enough to get to spend his time on a white and gold gilded chaise lounge. The lower level of the Plaza features a food court that is out of this world. Crepes, chocolates, baked goods and even lobster rolls!
Plaza Hotel Christmas tree
After dark, we started making our way up 5th Avenue, taking in all of the elaborately decorated store windows and toward the larger than life light show display on the Saks Fifth Avenue building. I believe the light show has in excess of 200k lights!
We ended our evening , near where we started, at the iconic Rockefeller Christmas Tree and ice skating rink. As the tree started to twinkle, I declared this as the most fun day of my life. Weston questioned me on the huge statement, but over a week later, I still stand by my declaration.
Rockefeller Center
During the next two days, we visited the Brooklyn Bridge, 9/11 memorial pools, St. Paul’s chapel (founded in 1766 and the location of George Washington’s post inauguration prayer in 1789), floated by the Statue of Liberty, went to the top of the Empire State Building and shopped and snacked our way through Chelsea, Greenwich Village and Soho! The Christmas season has come to a close, but as you start planning your 2016 vacations definitely consider moving New York City up on your list. We’d love to help you plan your trip or hear about your past trips to the Big Apple!
Lobby of the Empire State Building
A flower shop in Chelsea
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