Riviera Maya, Mexico - Sept. 26 - Oct. 6

I have been requested to post some pictures of our trip to Mexico and so I have included pictures of our room, some of the grounds, and some of the towel animals on our bed each day. Due to the nature of the resort, it is not exactly picture friendly, so we did not take a lot of pictures. We had a fantastic 10 days of lying on one of the beach bed palapas, sitting in the channel outside our room and at the pool bar. It rained a couple of nights, but for the most part was hot and sunny. The food and service were great, the drinks were plentiful and the entertainment each night was very good. It had been 3 years since we had been there, but a lot of the staff was the same and they remembered us. Glenda got a great tan and I even got some darker tones as my freckles blended together.

New York City - Day 6

Today, we packed our luggage and went for a final short walk down to the United Nations Building. We saw the Trump World Tower across the street and the flags were flying today in front of the UN Building. We got some pictures of some of the sculptures, trying to shoot around the construction that was going on. At noon, we went down and said our good-byes to our marvelous hosts, David and Gayle. They really know how to show visitors a great time and were able to put up with us for this long. We took a cab to the airport and the trip took only about 15 minutes. At the airport, Glenda did some shopping at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store and we had a slice from Famiglia Pizzaria to finish off our New York City experience. Our plane was delayed leaving the gate due to weather in Pennsylvania and a backup of some 40 planes waiting to take off. Once we left the gate, the pilot announced that she didn't know why, but we were to go to the head of the line and take off next. We decided that someone had finally realized that Glenda was on board and that gave us priority. We managed to arrive in Dallas on time despite the delay in NYC. This was a really great trip since it was Glenda's first time in New York City (other than going from the ship to the airport in May) and I had not really seen much of the city on my business trip years ago.

New York City - Day 5

Today, we got up early to go to the beach in Sandy Hook, New Jersey. We rode a cab to the 35th Street dock to catch the ferry. While waiting for the ferry, we saw a helicopter landing nearby, a New York Water Taxi go by, and a sea plane taking off. During the ferry ride, we got great views of the Empire State Building, the Manhattan Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, the Statue of Liberty, and the Staten Island Ferries passing, each holding up to 5000 commuters. Once we landed, a school bus transported us to the beach area and once we walked to the actual beach with all our belongings, we set up our tent and umbrella and chairs and enjoyed the sun, the cold surf, hot dogs, beer, and watermelon. It was a great day. We were just in time for the bus ride back to the last ferry. After cleaning up from the sand, we walked up to 61st Street for our "last supper" at Bistro 61. We followed it with a walk to work off some of the calories and got some Double Dutch Chocolate Gelato.

New York City - Day 4

Today we walked up to the Food Emporium Bridge Market under the Queensboro Bridge. It is a huge supermarket built around the supports for the bridge. We watched the cable car to Roosevelt Island, the only non water transport there, Later, we took the subway to see our play at the Broadhurst Theatre, across from Sardi's. The play was great, dealing with the last days of Mary, Queen of Scots. After the play, Janet McTeer, who played Mary, was out front signing autographs, which Glenda got on her playbill. We remember her from one of our favorite movies, "Songcatcher." We also witnessed some women yelling for the mounted policeman about a pick pocket. Our first NYC crime scene. We then stopped at Robert Emmett's Bar & Restaurant for beer and to plan our evening. We decided to stop for Italian at Fragolino Trattoria. The food was delicious. When we left, we walked through Hell's Kitchen, which was much nicer than we thought. Then it was back to the apartment.

New York City - Day 3

Today, we went over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and walked through part of their permanent Egyptian exhibit and a visiting exhibit of Frances Bacon, a very odd artist. After 2 1/2 hours at the museum, we ate hot dogs from a street vendor in front of the museum. Next, we walked into Central Park and wandered around part of the park. From the park, we walked by St. Patrick's Cathedral, which we had toured the evening I didn't have my camera, Rockefeller Center, and Radio City Music Hall. We went back to the apartment and later went to Parnell's Bar and Restaurant to eat. Parnell's is about one block from the apartment. Since the fireworks were moved to the Hudson River, we got the sound effects and watched on TV.