New York

[Anthony]

Arrived in the Big Apple late Saturday night after a great flight with a free upgrade, thanks to one of our mind members.

Our first full day saw us walk from our hotel on Park Avenue south down Manhatten through many districts inc. Little Itlay and Chinatown. Arrived at the 9/11 site and went to the visitors centre after looking around Ground Zero. The first of the new towers is now well underway and will again dominate the skyline as the twin towers did before.

They are hoping to get the memorial, which will be the footings of the original buildings turned into water features, ready by 9/11/11. All very moving.

We then walked south and was going to take the ferry to Liberty Island for some phots but the queue was massive. We decided to take the free ferry to Statin Island which goes by the Statue and so got plenty of photos. Once back on Manhatten we took a water taxi across to Brooklyn and then walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge which gives some great views of the skyline.

After about 6 miles of walking we got the tube back to Grand Central and then had an hour back at the hotel cooling off. It had been so hot it made Florida feel cool. 98f with extremely high humidity and tornadoes in the area. Thankfully cooled down for today. Only getting to 89f today with much less humidity. After our rest we headed off for The Empire State building. The boys were amazed at the views from the top. We stayed up there for a while and watched the sun set and the city come to life with lights.

After a bite to eat it was off to bed. Today we are on the tour buses. We are going to spend a few hours in Central Park and then visit the shops.

That's all for now folks.

[Gregs]

Pleased to here things are going well over there

Enjoy the rest of your trip

Ian

[Links]

Oh the memories. The night bus to Brooklyn is great Anthony

[Shirls]

Sounds lovely, I really must have a proper visit one day

[Ali2600]

Its a place I have always wanted to go. Maybe one day!!!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.


Alison

[Shirley G]

Have a great stay Anthony, we went to NY many years ago and loved it. Only stayed a few days in the city and then travelled upstate to the Catskill mountains.

My son is in NY now, 7 days into a 10 day stay. He is staying at the Hudson Hotel and having a fantastic time, says he could quite easily live there.

A bit too hot and humid for me this time of year, phew

[viporlandovillas]

Sounds great Anthony and somewhere I promise myself to go sometime. Hubby was working in Pennsylvania for a while and he went and did the 'tourist' for a weekend and said we should go see the sights.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday and hope it cools down a little for you but not too much.

[Anthony]

Lynne we are doing the night tour to Brooklyn tonight.

Today we did the bus tour around North Manhatten (around Central Park) Got off around 3/4 of the way and walked through Central Park for an hour or so. This is my 4th time in NY and the first time I have soent any lengthof time in the park. Absolutely beautiful and so much to do. We watched a new film being shot called Curb Your Enthusiasm starring Tim Gibbons (from Daddy Day Care) and he was stood right with us for a while. We watched whislt they filmed a scene and was stood with the director when he shouted action and cut.

Then went on a river tour of the Hudson and then walked back via Times Square and Grand Central. We have a free wine hour in the reception of our hotel and it is only on for anothe 15 minutes so I had best go (needless to say Caroline is already down there!

Flying down to Florida tomorrow afternoon for some relaxation after a very hetcic few days.

[Lizb]

Your trip sounds great, enjoy the wine and have a safe trip to Florida tomorrow.

[clubhousecove]

Sounds great Anthony, we want to do something similar combined with Orlando next trip.
Is it mega hot and humid thats all i remember from a previous visit to NY in the summer...

Where are you staying? i have some guests 2 + 2 looking for a new york recommendation for next year.

Safe trip down to Southern dunes..

belinda

[Gail]

wow Anthony sound wonderful , will have to talk David into do this one day keep sending in the reports
have a safe trip to Florida

[Tracey]

Sounds like you're having a great time (Caroline drinking wine in hotel lobbys )

Hope the rest of your holiday is fantastic too, keep the reports coming!

Safe trip down to Florida.

[HD]

Glad you are enjoying yourselves in New York Anthony...

We were there ourselves on Friday and Saturday... visiting family "upstate"...

also had the Tornado alarms going off ....

[violet]

Sounds fabulous, thank you for allowing us to have an insight in to your stay - very jealous but sounds exhausting too - enjoy your rest in Florida.

Violet

[Anthony]

Arrived in Florida around 6pm where we found the temp 98f It really is very hot.

Flew down with Jet Blue and would fully recommend them if you have any internal flights to take. For a budget airline you get 50lb of checked luggage each, seat back screens with live tv and free unlimited snacks and soft drinks. Loads of legroom too.

Already done the shop in Walmart and now back in the villa trying to cool off.

Belinda we stayed at 70 Park Ave. Hotel which is at Park Av and 38th street. 5 minutes from Grand Central, 10 minutes from Empire State & 5th Av (shopping).
I managed to get a decent deal as we stayed 3 nights (3 nights for the price of 2).

The foyer was small but quite intimate and friendly. We had a concierge who looked after us right up to printing off our boarding cards for our flight. Took the kids into the Waldorf this morning as I have stayed there twice before and they were shocked to find it had the same star rating as our hotel.

Villa is ok but grass is the worst I have seen it in 6 years. Will have to have a word with mc and also get the sprinklers set to twice a week. Lynne I didn't know the villa next to you was up for sale.

[Links]

Yes it has been for a couple of years now Anthony

[Gail]

Anthony who looks after your Grass is it Gary!!!
mine was the same in June , at one side of the house
David said Gary was going to replace it all , yes I bet he will !!!
my brother is there in a couple of weeks so will let him check it out for me

[clubhousecove]

Thanks for that Anthony, will pass the info on.
Re the grass, I believe it has been very dry the past few weeks which means everyones grass is probably not looking great

Belinda

[Longleaf]

Re the grass, I believe it has been very dry the past few weeks which means everyones grass is probably not looking great
Belinda

Indeed, very dry those last weeks... But watering is not all ...
When arriving in April our grass was also in very poor conditions
In fact, our MC (who monthly charged us for lawn care & also fertilisation) was completely out of knowing what to do.
As we think this is a job for professionals, we signed a contract of lawn care with Massey (the same company who does termite protection)
They now comes once a month to fertilise and treat garden (grass, plants and bushes) for weeds and pest...
I have to say that our grass and garden never looks so great than now !

[Anthony]

I'm not sure who looks after the grass since the re-structure of the MC. Mine was always green and lush but now it is brown ,dying and big patches with no grass. I could swallow the no rain excuse if everyones was the same but mine is by far the worst in our area.

Lynne it is the first time I have seen a for sale sign on that house and have never seen it advertised (and I have looked). I have known the one a couple away from you has been up for sale a few years but not that one.

7.30am and 82f by the pool. Seems really strange not having any golfers go by.

[Links]

Will Pm Anthony as this is a public area

[Gregs]

Good to hear you arrived in Florida safely - and in some comfort too

Sounds like New York was a fantastic 'stop off' but surprised you left Caroline alone with the wine - she could have caused a diplomatic incident based on events at the recent meet up!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday

Cheers

Ian