Greetings from NYC. Most of you know that my sister Michele and I have brought our daughters, Hannah, Emma and Leslie, to New York for a vacation. I didn't bring a camera so I won't be able to post pictures till the girls, out of the goodness of their hearts, email some of theirs to me.

We traveled by train from Charlotte (12 hours). This was my first long distance train trip in the US. The experience was pretty good other than the fact that it was delayed by over an hour. The seats were very comfortable, fairly wide with leg rests that could be extended and plenty of leg room between seats (an improvement over an airplane!). The bathrooms were gross as the train had traveled from New Orleans before arriving in Charlotte. We ate lunch in the dining car which was fair.

We're staying at the Wingate Inn on 35th which is very nice. Sunday night we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and ate a Grimaldi's Pizzaria (possibly the best I've ever had) and Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Delicious and guilt free considering the long, long walk. The skyline at night was out of this world.

Yesterday was a shopping day. Toys R Us with a ferris wheel and 2-story Barbie house; Sephora cosmetics; MTV store (just t-shirts); Saks; H&M; Battery Park for knock-off purses; Century 21. We ate lunch at Ellen's Stardust with singing waiters. When the waiter came to our table singing "You're Just Too Good To Be True", we dazzled him with our harmony!

Last night we watched "An Affair to Remember" (ohhh!) in anticipation of going to the top of the Empire State Building today.