Last night my family and I were treated to a night on the town by On Location Tours. It wasn’t that typical for us to play total NYC tourists, and you might be as stunned (as my husband was I told him what we were doing) when I tell you where we went. After living in NYC nearly 20 years, I dragged everyone into the city (in the snow!) to go on a bus tour to do a “Holiday Lights and Movie Sites”, a bus tour led by a company called On Location Tours.
We met the bus outside the Columbus Circle holiday market around 7pm and instantly found our tour guide, Lou. Lou, an Indie film actress and voiceover artist, was proudly wearing a Santa Claus cap and earnestly gave us the low-down on the tour. We quickly learned that while she would be pointing out the films tied to the locations, we’d also be watching clips from the films on the bus to put the scenes in perspective. To be honest, there are three things I love this time of year: New York City, movies and holiday lights. To be on a bus tour focusing on the three was a dream. I turned to my cynical husband at one point and declared that this was a great Saturday night out with the kids. I think he realized I meant it!
Even as a New Yorker, it’s not easy to see all the holiday windows and Christmas trees, so it was nice to have the bus tour take us around to hit all the high notes. As we rode around the city, I was reminded of not only how beautiful and sparkly NYC but also important it is in terms of film and television.
We started in Columbus Circle and headed up Central Park West. My kids had just watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, so it was nice to point out where the parade takes place. Lou also pointed out scenes from Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Tavern on the Green), Elf (Buddy’s dad’s apartment), New Year’s Eve (Lincoln Center), Scrooged (the Metropolitan Opera), Home Alone 2 and Serendipity (Central Park). The tour really hit the nail on the head with its choice of films. Lou had my kid’s full attention all throughout the tour.
It had been snowing all day so NYC looked especially crisp and beautiful all lit up all night. As we rode to the Upper East Side to see Serendipity where Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack shared a Frozen Hot Chocolate in the movie by the same name, we rode by and stopped off at all the holiday windows at Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Bergman, Lord & Taylor, Barney’s and down to Macy’s, home to the real Santa in Miracle on 34th Street, one of my all-time favorite Christmas films. We drove by the Plaza Hotel and relived Eloise at Christmastime and down Park Avenue to relive scenes from The Family Man. Lou talked about a few of the classics like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and It’s a Wonderful Life. She had a knack for finding topics and trivia questions for both children and adults and was a very good story teller, full of tid bits about all the films featured on the tour. We even drove by the tree at Rockefeller Center (that was one stop we didn’t make but my family can do the tree on our own anytime).
There was one other family on board from the tri-state region, but for the most part, we were one of the only locals. As a bonafide New Yorker (I wasn’t born here but flew to the coop from Atlanta as soon as I was able to), the tour made me feel proud of NYC. So many films have either been filmed or set here. The city itself was shining, and I was reminded of how high the buildings are (one thing I haven’t noticed lately), how grand the architecture is and how lucky we are to live here.
That is not something I take lightly but I’m grateful to On Location Tours for the reminder.
Tickets for the Holiday Lights and Movie Sites Tour are $35 each and can be purchased here. The tours do sell out so book in advance.
Disclosure: I was given these tickets to facilitate the review but all opinions are my own.
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