Best 2012 Memories, #23: A very unique trike ride
Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade on TV is an annual tradition in many households, including my own. There's something fascinating about seeing those giant balloons, in the shape of colorful characters, looming above the New York streets.
Since I live in Orlando, I also get to see some of the balloons in person. They come down to Universal Orlando Resort for the annual Macy's parade that takes place daily in Universal Studios Florida during the holiday season. The balloons are i the parade itself and also set up for display around the park.
The park gets plenty of the aerial balloons, but this year there was something new: balloon tricycles, straight from New York. The trikes have a balloon character "pedaling" on the back and are styled to the Nutcracker.
I was invited to Universal Studios Florida to see some of the Macy's balloons up close, and that included those fascinating trikes. Better yet, I had the chance to actually hop aboard one and see if riding it is as easy as the performers make it look in the parade (it's not).
Click the video at lower left, which shows the balloons and has a little clip of me managing briefly not to crash the trike.
Even though I was exhausted just from a short sprint of pedaling, seeing the balloons and trying out the trike was definitely among my top 25 memories. How often to you get the chance to be that close to those iconic Macy's balloons? It was a fun kick-off to the 2012 Christmas season.
Since I'm going in date order, my next memory is also tied to the holidays. Continue on to see what it is.
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