Visiting Rockefeller Center in December: What to Expect on Your First Trip

If you're wondering if New York City in December is too much of an adventure for you, let me tell you a little story. It's the story of my father, who was in a wheelchair, and my son, who was 13 at the time, and me going to New York City in December via charter bus.

Our first trip to Rockefeller Center in December was a wonderful experience. Although my father had been to NYC several times, it was my son's first time. My son was excited about going to The Big Apple, and super excited about visiting the Nintendo store, which is right around the corner from Rockefeller Center. After about an hour in the Nintendo store, we walked around the corner and saw the NBC studio where the Today Show is filmed (and the ever-famous Dean and Deluca that's always in the background), then went on to see the golden statue of Prometheus by the skating rink at Rockefeller Center and, of course, the big tree.

That first trip was great, and very memorable. Two years later my father's health was failing, and despite having great difficulty walking, he wanted to go to Rockefeller Center again. He kept bringing up the fact that the only time he had ever seen the big tree in person it was daylight. It seemed like he wanted nothing more than to see the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center all lit up at night. I booked another bus trip.

This time we wanted to make sure that we saw the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center after nightfall. Since the bus got to NYC around 9:30 in the morning, we pretty much had the whole day to spend touring New York. On the previous trip we had taken the New York Waterway tour around the harbor, which I highly recommend. Just hop on a New York Waterways bus (they're free) to the pier and buy a ticket for one of their tours. Then sit back and listen to the guide as you see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, United Nations, and more.

Not to have a "been there, done that" mentality, but on the second trip... been there, done that. This time we skipped the Nintendo store and the boat tour, and headed straight to Grand Central Station at my father's request. We each purchased one-day subway passes, mainly because we don't have subways where we live and my son gets a really big kick out of riding them. Even though my dad was in a wheelchair he went along with it. The only thing is that not all subway stops are wheelchair accessible, so you really need to plan ahead to know where you can get on and off.

We continued to Saint Patrick's Cathedral, another site that my father had always wanted to see. We marveled at the religious icons and lit candles. It's really quite a spectacular place. From there we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where there was a display of painters from the Italian Renaissance. Most of the paintings had biblical themes, which seemed so fitting at Christmastime. We had a light lunch at the cafe in the Met (which is another one of my NYC recommendations). The Met is so big that you need to take a break for refreshments, and the cafe there has the most delicious desserts! By the time we finished at the Met, the sun was setting, so we headed for Rockefeller Center.

If you've ever heard that NYC is crowded in December, believe it! The police barricade the streets around Times Square and Rockefeller Center to allow pedestrian traffic only, and it's still crowded. And there we were, quite a trio- a middle-aged lady with a teenager pushing an old man in a wheelchair.

But here's another thing about New York City in December: the people on the streets were so courteous and polite to us. So much so that it's now a very fond memory for me. When we got in view of the big tree, people actually cleared a line of sight so that my father could get a good view from his wheelchair.

Seeing the big tree all lit up was the highlight of the trip for my dad. When he saw it, his face lit up like, well, like the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center on a December night.

This Christmas will be our first Christmas without my dad. It's hard to be without him, but it's comforting to have warm memories of him. When I saw the tree being brought to Rockefeller Center this year, I can't even describe the feeling that I had. I felt close to my dad. I truly felt like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is "our" Christmas tree.