one of the best ideas i ever had was to go to dinner and a broadway show on new year's eve.
i'd get tickets for an 8pm show or thereabouts, then dw and i would head into the city around 5pm and put the car in a lot in the broadway/times square district, just before the police would shut down the entire area for the later celebration.
we'd first go to dinner at sardi's, or mamma leone's, or frankie and jonnie's, then go see the show.
at roughly 10pm when the show let out, we'd go to a bar in the theater district for a couple of warm-me-ups before heading out into the cold and the madness of times square on new tear's eve around 11:30.
it was a perfect set up. all of the thousands of poor dumb bastards with us had been standing around for hours in the cold, and we just stumbled out at the right time, satiated and relaxed, and got to watch the ball drop with everyone, feeling no pain.
the only downside was then having to wait an hour or more in the parking garage to get my car back, but it was worth it.
i'd tip the valet a few bucks, we'd go for a nightcap, and when the streets reopened my car was warm and ready for a very careful ride home.
good times.