July 5 & 6 2010

It was hot again in NYC ( and so was all the East Coast from Virginia north into Maine. According to NY1 a 24hour news TV station the entire range of the Catskills were 100 +) And the forecast for the next seven days is to be pretty much the same. So we decided rather than try to deal with the heat we'd head home to St Pete tomorrow. That left us with today. After Starbucks we took the 2nd Ave. down to Houston Street and walked over to Washington Square and the NYU area on the shady sides of the streets. Not too bad if you stay out of the direct sun. On 6th AVE we caught the up town bus and rode up to the high 70's on the West Side. We walked around Riverside Park and then over to Amsterdam and had late lunch in a pub there. Great hamburgers on English Muffins (with sweet potato fries for Terry.) After this leisurely lunch we walked up to 86th and caught the crosstown bus to 2nd Ave and then came back home. We were in around 5:00 and will just book our flight for TPA tomorrow.

Tuesday morning found Terry in Starbucks early where while I stayed home to pack. Since we were up and ready to go early, we decided to try to catch the local city buses back to LGA to see how the trip was in reverse. The price certain is right ( only $ 5.00 in total and would have been half if we managed to get our senior bus tickets......unbelievable) but only do this if you have plenty of time and don't have much luggage. It took about 1:45. Our flight had a change in DCA and then went on to TPA where we arrived around 5:30. The temp here was 72 (with no humidity) as we drove across the Howard Franklin Bridge..........go figure!

Sunday July 4 on the USS Intrepid

Sunday was hot hot hot. Because of this we stayed in doors cleaning the apartment and doing loads of laundry. Now all this shouldn't seem to take all day but because the clothes washer and dryer are small it took about five loads to finish it all......and that took time. Terry fixed a vent fan in the bathroom that had "frozen." The fridge got cleaned out plus a closet. I went grocery shopping and then made a large salad for lunch. Sounds boring but needed to be done.

About 5pm we headed out for the West Side and the Intrepid. We walked over to 2nd Ave to catch the bus to 42nd Street......bus ended up walking the six blocks and caught the M42 Crosstown which because of the holiday was only going as far as 10th Ave not to 12th Ave. The bus was jammed and everyone on it was going to the West Side to watch the fireworks. Every 4th Macy's provides the display from six huge barges that are stationed in the Hudson River. The West Side Parks and Walkways from about the Chelsea Piers to 59th Street are corded off and they were filled with celebrating folks. All those who had tickets for the Intrepid were to be at 46th and 11th to be let onto the ship a 6:00. There was a line of people that stretched almost three blocks long!!! This was the first time the Intrepid had opened the boat for the 4th so lessons were learned as far as moving people was concerned......but all in line were still up beat and patient......most anyway. By about 7:00 we were on board and rather than go through the innards of the boat we headed for the flight deck immediately. Wow what views of the river and the parks and the people camped on the streets below and what amazing airplanes that are on the carriers deck! We looked at the airplanes. The F-8 that Terry flew on most of his missions was there plus the Blackbird( it flies at 82,000 ft - yak) which he also flew on several special missions too. After about a hour of this we moved with a glass of wine each to the fantail of the boat where there were seats set up in rows for the firework show. We found two seats by the railing on the south side of the boat; from that vantage point we could see five of the six huge firework barges in the river. We had really three seats as a young photographer from the NY Times had us "guard" one of his cameras attached to a tripod that he left immediately by the open railing. There was a "fly by" done by about five helicopters in formation and then the NYC Fire Boats did huge water sprays/displays. Back light by the setting sun the effect of the spray turned golden. There were about five boats doing this and finally two of the largest did red/white/blue spays. As the sun set completely, large speakers on board began broadcasting. A radio announcer welcomed all to the Macy's 4th of July Firework Display. Their music was coordinated with the explosions......as we have all seen on TV. But this time we were right next to one of the speakers and the "bombs bursting in air" were almost directly above us. It was breath taking and very emotional. When they started to play all the anthems of the various services....I started to weep.........by the time they played the National Anthem I'm sure that many were weeping too and all of us were standing with smiles of pride on our faces.

What a night..................and as we left.......all 2000 of us on the boat and the other 6000 plus in our area on the streets everyone started to walk toward Times Square!!!!! With nary a bus in sight......we walked home cutting through Grand Central Station then up to 46 and then zigzagged on up to 48th and 3rd. Another long walk......but worth every step. Happy 4th Everyone!

Friday and Saturday July 2 & 3 2010

We have been enjoying NYC and have been doing a great deal of walking. After our cereal we went to the Starbucks that is just around the corner close to 48th and on 3rd Ave. There WIFI connection wasn't working but we were able to pick up another one foe just a while. Later we headed up to get our MTA cards at the subway stop on 52nd and 3rd. We then we caught the bus to 72nd where we caught the crosstown bus to go to the West Side. We got off on Central Park West and walked over to Amsterdam when we had lunch at Isabells that is on the South side of the Natural History Museum. The weather was in the high 60s so it was perfect for sitting outside to eat. From there we went over to Broadway to go to my favorite grocery store in NYC....not Zabars which is terrific, but Fairways!!! Could have stayed there for hours! We bought some fixing for salad later olives and just gawked at all the wonderful meats, fresh fish and cheeses......looked but no chili mangoes.......so far can't find them anywhere in the city!!!!!! From there we stopped into a Starbucks where Terry was able to check the Stock Market ( and made a good sale enough to pay for the trip here, the tickets for the 4th on the Intrepid plus the dogs and all). We then walked back to Central Park and went to the Boathouse where we had a glass of wine and watched the Soccer game between Ghana and Paraguay.........the place was jambed......and there were several young men obviously from Ghana that were glued to the TV near the main bar. Watching their faces was as nice as watching the game directly. We left there walked out of the park to 5th avenue and then took the bus down to 50th. We walked to St Barts., which is our 'local' Episcopal church, that is on the corner of Park and 50th. We went in and I was able to show Terry its beautiful chapel which he'd never seen. He noticed that there was a Morning Prayer service every Saturday morning at 10:00 that is held in the chapel! So that will be the plan for Saturday. From here we walked up to Hillstones on 53rd and 3rd( the old Houston's in Citicorp) where we watch the rest of the game with Ghana......what an amazing game!!!! It went into overtime for a "kick-off"..........after that we walked back home.......and called it an early night. We were pooped.

Saturday morning found us back at Starbucks where this particular store is still having Internet problems but had coffee before returning to the apartment for showers and then we were off to church.....only three of us plus a young woman as the priest......she was charming. From there we discovered that our crosstown bus the M50 has had it's weekend service canceled ( part of the city cutting services to curb losses in revenue) so.......we walked all the way over to the West side to the Intrepid! It's on the corner of 46th and 12thAve......that is a walk! We got our tickets for the Fireworks and then walked down the West Side Park just south of the carrier and then caught the bus on 42nd street to back to 3rd Ave where we came back up to Hillstones to have lunch.........Terry's burger was one of the best he has every had.......wish I'd had it too instead of my Asian Noodle Salad. At this point his back and feet ( bad shoes) were killing so he went home while I went into Barnes and Nobles which is above Hillstones in Citicorp. I browsed until around 3:30. I hope the Dr Scholls inner soles I bought on the way home will help Terry tomorrow. Watched another soccer game and decided to stay in again. It's peaceful and relaxing. Weather continues to be wonderful but there is supposed to be a six day heat way starting Monday. We will leave then to go back to FL since walking in the city will not be much fun......will be back in September if not sooner.

Arrived NYC July 1 2010

Has one ever pondered that flexible and fickle are often confused? In typical Hallcom form our plans changed this morning as the flights to Philly were running very full.....so off we went to DCA and then directly on to LGA. While in DCA we saw Al Sharpton. He was waiting for out plane also to no doubt go home for the holidays. He was on his cell phone constantly and pacing while giving very definite directives to whomever was on the other end of the line. There were plenty of seats on both legs of the trip so we were about to all three seats to ourselves in both cases.....nice. Just as the final passengers were boarding one of the last folks to board was Steve........(can't think of his last name will look it up for the next blog) He is a regular from the early morning stock market news on CNBC. We spoke with him while we were all waiting to disembark........and low and behold he used to live in St. Petersburg, FL.......will have to look him up on the Internet to see exactly just what he did there........maybe just a broker downtown???? Our next adventure was to take the M60 MTA bus into the city and then catch the 2nd Ave Bus downtown. Bus was jammed but everyone was pleasant and smiling.....bus driver was a charming and kind character. Weather was really balmy about 70 degrees and blue skies.........apartment was a bit dusty but oh did it feel good to be home where everything is peaceful and put together!!!!!!!! Spent a quiet night and off to bed at 10:30 as we got up early. Ah yes, NY...NY.

Well tomorrow is July 1 2010.....so it's been a while since I've posted any

thing . But tomorrow at noon we leave St.Petersburg, Fl. for NYC for the 4th of July weekend. We have not been to the city for quite a long time just by ourselves and we are both excited to do this long weekend. Thanks to my urging, we have gotten tickets to view the fireworks over the Hudson River that Macy's sponsors from the flight deck of the USS Intrepid. The carrier is now a permanent museum. Because it pushes out into the harbor we should have great "seats" for the celebration. We will be able to take the 49th street crosstown bus over from our apartment and the just walk down to 46th and 12 Ave where we will be taken directly to the ship! That couldn't be easier. At least that is the theory! Besides the 4th of July, Terry has been asked to join the FVW that is aboard the Intrepid. He has never been very interested in reliving his service days and because of this he has never been very interested in joining VFWs, but because he actually flew off of the Intrepid doing special missions during Viet Nam and because it has two of the types of airplanes he flew as permanent displays on it's deck, the F-8 and the A-4, joining became an easy decision.

So the plan is tomorrow we will fly to Philly. Then we have decided to try taking the train into town transfer to one going to Trenton and then onto one that goes directly to Penn Station........it is a test run. ........don't ask........there are sound reasons for this.....just don't ask now. Believe it or not taking this train route is supposed to take exactly the same time as it would if we changed planes in PHL and then flew to La Guardia and then took the NYC bus into Grand Central Station........I'll keep you posted on the results when we get into the apartment tomorrow night. Should be interesting!

Packed and Ready to Go - July 6, 2009

Well, almost packed but definitely ready to go. My flight leaves on Wednesday and I will fly into Charlotte, NC and then take a flight to Gatwick that of course arrived very early Thursday morning. From there I'll hop a train to Portsmouth England where my friend Jane Robinson will be waiting. After a drive back to her home in Ringwood, ????? Stay tuned.

Many thanks to Martha for getting me started here.......now all I have to do is figure out how to attach my photos.