Jaunted

As I mentioned yesterday, we're fortunate to have a friend who lives in the Village on Sixth Avenue, overlooking the parade route, so we packed our little monkey up and jumped on the L Train to Manhattan. It was soon packed with costumed revelers, like Panda Man and a girl dressed as a box of "Minute Lice." The party had begun and we hadn't even left Brooklyn yet.

We took Zach around to a few participating apartments in Joy's building for trick or treating, and then settled in by her 6th floor window to watch the parade. Even though a light rain was falling, the event was as high energy as ever, with hundreds of creative costumes. Among the highlights were a phalanx of towering skeletons, a ghost ship, and a tribute to Michael Jackson's Thriller with at least a hundred dancers.

Since there aren't that many street lamps on Joy's block, the best floats and costumes were those that were illuminated, like these Zipcars.

And this zombie ghost ship, chased by green ghouls or something.

Since we had a wee one with us, we only stayed for a couple of drinks and took the subway home at around 10:30 p.m. It was a zoo, of course, with plenty of only-in-New York moments, like the girl dressed as an Etch A Sketch that said "I'm Sketchy."

The next morning, Jenn took the train to Philadelphia for the day, so I took Zach to watch the New York City Marathon, which runs through our neighborhood. We found a good spot on Bedford Avenue between North Sixth and North Seventh streets and soon saw Mayor Bloomberg ride by in a classic 1952 car. (He's up for reelection on Tuesday.)

Shortly thereafter, the elite male runners flew by, but my camera batteries conked out moments before they did, so all I could do was watch and enjoy. (I was pleased to find out later that American Meb Keflezighi won the men's race, the first time an American has taken the top spot since 1982.) Here's what the larger group of runners looked like who came by later.

If you've never witnessed a marathon in the flesh, you're missing out on an exciting and often emotional event. The crowd went wild cheering people on. Everybody runs for a reason.

Zachary enjoyed watching the runners, and also discovered how fun it is to use my head as a bongo drum.

So that was our Halloween weekend in New York. We headed back home, had some breakfast, and now Zachary is taking a nap while I hustle to post this before he wakes up. Uh, did I forget to weave a travel angle into this story? See if this works: This past weekend was a particularly eventful one, but even on its most boring weekend, with the most miserable weather, New York has more amazing things to see and do than almost any other city on the planet. So screw the stupid beach this winter and come to "the city" instead. If the goal of your vacation is a unique and memorable experience, I can all but guarantee that's exactly what you'll have.

[All Photos: Victor Ozols]

Related Stories:
· New York's Village Halloween Parade [Official Site]
· The New York City Marathon [Official Site]
· Halloween Travel [Jaunted]