I have always, always loved the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but I have never had any desire to wake up at the crack of dawn and stand along the route, half frozen to death, trying fruitlessly to peer over my neighbor’s shoulders.

All of these kids have the sniffles.

Instead I spend parade morning on the couch in front of the TV, wrapped in a quilt with a cup of cocoa, happily singing along as my husband makes sarcastic faces. I just love a parade (he could care less).

The floats! The performances! The fun!

There is, however, one Thanksgiving Parade tradition worth frostbitten fingers. I’m here to share pre-Thanksgiving with you… and you can thank me later. Take yourself out for a nice, early dinner on the Upper West Side tonight (I like Cafe Frida), grab a warm beverage to go, and then head over to the area around the American Museum of Natural History (on 77th & 81st Streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue)  to watch those enormous balloons being inflated.

Kermit getting ready for the big day

The more in your group, the merrier- it’s not anywhere near as crowded as the parade and it has all the drama and excitement of being in on a real, not-for-tourists New York experience. The action typically goes until about 10pm.

Have a tete a tete with Shrek.

See you there!