Welcome, 2011!

 Happy New Year from the W. family!

Happy 2011, everyone! I hope you all sent 2010 out on a high note and that your 2011 is off to a great start.

We had a very nice New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, albeit quiet and low-key. That seems to be the theme of our holidays this year, doesn't it? We're all about being mellow.

On New Year's Eve, Eric left work in the late afternoon. We met up for a late lunch then ran some errands around town while we hatched our plan for the evening.

Let me be honest with you - there was a BRIEF moment last week when Eric and I considered doing the Times Square thing all over again. We figured we would go much later than we did the first time and just see what happened. Since we've already done it once, there would be no pressure to risk frostbite or really make ourselves crazy standing out there if we decided we didn't want to. So, we thought we could give it a try because we could always just leave if we felt like it.

And then, I met up with Eric on 8th Avenue that afternoon and started to see The Barricades. I hate The Barricades. The Barricades are what NYPD uses to corral people into pens for any big event (Macy's Parade, Rockefeller Tree Lighting, New Year's Eve, etc.). People are herded about with no discernible rhyme or reason, at the total mercy of the police. I took one look at those barricades (and the police officers gathering en masse to begin the people-herding) and decided our couch looked like a much more appealing place to spend the evening.

Cops arriving in the area at about 4:00 p.m.

But, after we ran our errands, we thought it might be kind of fun to just go out to Times Square, snap a couple pictures with our new camera, then come on back home. So, we stopped back at the apartment to pick up our camera and our 2011 glasses, then made our way east. We headed out there around 6:30, I think - a full hour later than we left the first time we did this.

One thing that I remember from the first time we did the Times Square thing was that they only let you in at certain cross-streets. This year we ended up at 59th Street trying to get in. They had a security checkpoint there that was excessively inefficiently run. It took us FOREVER to get through. There were about 10 cops standing around, and for quite some time, only one doing the pat-downs. Then they spent a good while arranging The Barricades and not letting ANYONE through. Finally they got back to us and we worked our way in. You had to completely unbutton your coat to show what was underneath, then at a second check point they wanded/patted you down and checked your pockets. This year they actually enforced the "no backpacks" rule (they definitely did not when we went the first time), so some people were turned away. It was a very slow process, and thinking back, I'm not sure why we stuck it out. Oh, what we will do for a nice photo op.

Eric in the security line

When we got through security we ran right over to 7th Avenue, which is best for a far-away view of the ball. They had a bunch of the pens still empty but closed, so we just wandered around and took a few pictures from there (around 58th Street).

We're far away, but you can still see Times Square waaaaay down there!

At 58th Street

As we stood at the end of a pen taking pictures, they happened to open up that pen and let people in. We made our way through ANOTHER security check and into the pen. We got a spot right at the front of the pen and took a few more pictures. Then, as we were thinking about leaving, they opened up the pen again and let us move even closer. I nearly got trampled as people tried to run for a good spot, so that's always fun.

When all was said and done, we finally ended up in a pen at about 53rd Street. So, five blocks closer, which wasn't bad. We hung around for a bit and took some pics from there. (For reference, last time when we got to Times Square at 5:30, we ended up with a spot at about 48th Street. So, by leaving an hour later, we were moved back about five full blocks.)

The view from 53rd Street

 The ball

Eric, back in Times Square!

Me

The screen below the ball says "Season's Greetings!"

We just love NYC.

To be honest, we again briefly considered sticking around for the duration. By that point it was about 7:30, so we only had 4.5 hours to go. And let me tell you about this HOT New Year's Eve! Honestly, we picked one of the worst possible years to commit to the Times Square thing. In 2008, with wind chill, it was TWO DEGREES at midnight. TWO. Like, here's one degree, and here's his friend, and that's it. NO MORE DEGREES. It was the kind of cold that makes you think if even the tiniest part of your skin gets exposed to the elements, it will freeze right off in seconds. It was brutal. Last year, it was in the 30s but rainy. Waiting around for hours in the rain is no fun at all, so I don't feel sad that we missed out last year. But this year, it was in the LOW 40s at midnight! It was honestly 40 degrees warmer this year than the year we did it. 40 DEGREES! That's so many degrees! It was downright balmy. We were running around out there without hats or gloves, which would have been unthinkable two years ago (for proof, compare the pictures of each of us above to this picture of Eric or this picture of me in 2008. Notice a difference in our attire?). So, given the fact that we were already in a pen, and were not anywhere near freezing to death, we considered staying.

Then we thought, no.

We just didn't feel like standing around in those crowds for 4.5 more hours, so we made our way out. When we got to Broadway we had to show proof that we lived on the other side of town for them to let us through! It was crazy. Also, we passed over Broadway at 54th Street, and just south of there we saw they had a huge screen set up to watch the ball drop because Broadway curves there, and you can no longer see the ball. Yet there were TONS of people still penned in, to watch the ball drop on a screen. What is wrong with you people? Why on earth would you stand in that madness to not even be able to see the ball drop live? Don't you know if you're going to watch it on a screen, you might as well do so at home? Crazies.

The screen on Broadway, because the street curved and the ball is now behind the buildings on the left

Yet still, ALL THESE PEOPLE are waiting to watch the ball drop on that screen. Get your lives together, people!

So, we finally made it home and settled in for the night. We ordered pizza and relaxed on the couch. At 10:00 we watched the hourly countdown they do in Times Square from our living room, and saw fireworks for that. At 11:30 we turned on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve, put on our 2011 glasses, poured the champagne and got ourselves in position to watch the ball drop. Eric took photos of the Big Event while I videotaped it, and it played on TV in the background. Did you know what they show on TV is on about a 12-second delay from what is happening live in Times Square? Well now you do!

The New Year's Eve view from our apartment! The Empire State Building is still lit red and green for Christmas, and you can see the bright screen from Times Square with the ball above it to the left. Those two spires on the buildings to the left are also lit up like a party for the occasion!

Zoomed-in view of the ball from our apartment

Opening the champagne

The ball is dropping!

 2011!

 Midnight fireworks in Times Square

VIDEO: The ball drop from our apartment (please pardon my annoying voice)
(Also, if you listen carefully, after I announce 2011, you can still hear the people on TV counting down! There's that delay I mentioned!)

The awesome thing about how our whole night played out is that we can now tell people that "We went to Times Square on New Year's Eve and watched the ball drop live" and it's totally accurate! So, sure, we didn't watch the ball drop live from Times Square but we did watch it live, and we were in Times Square on New Year's Eve. Semantics! 

But you know what? As awful as the Times Square thing was two years ago, I'm so glad we did it. It is so cool to watch it on TV now having had that experience. We know the excitement those people feel each hour, and especially as midnight finally approaches after having stood out there for all that time. We can remember exactly how it all happened. For example, before the ball drops, they play "Imagine." It was so incredible because everyone stops being crazy and sings along and it becomes this really beautiful moment. When we were there we were surrounded by people from all over the world, yet everyone knew that song and sang along right there in Times Square. It was so cool, and when I heard "Imagine" playing in the background on TV, that all came rushing back to me. After the ball drops, they play "Auld Lang Syne," then "New York," then "It's a Wonderful World," then "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." And still, when I hear that on TV after the ball drop, I remember how it felt to be there. It was such an unforgettable life moment and I'm so glad to have experienced it once.

After the ball drop, we had ourselves a nice New Year's smooch, drank our champagne, sent some text messages and answered some phone calls, and were generally merry. Good times!

Cheers to 2011!

Talking to my sister

Way to join the party, Achilles!

He's eying my champagne

Glasses? We don't need glasses!

Starting the new year off right!

And that was our New Year's Eve!

We spent our New Year's Day relaxing at home (what else is new?). We watched a great Gator game (Urban Meyer's last as their head coach, boohoo!) and made ourselves a delicious dinner of ham, green bean casserole and sweet potatoes.

All in all we had a very nice holiday, and I think 2011 is off to a great start. Now let's see what this New Year will bring for us!