NEW YORK AND FLORIDA 2009

Written by: Julie Hart
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We decided to take a trip to New york this year as 3 out of the 4 of us have had a significant birthday. When I looked into flights and prices though, I realised that it would cost the same to go to New York for 4 nights as it would to go to our villa in Florida for 2 weeks so that was decided on.

We have previously flown non-direct to Florida via New York so I thought I’d look into stopping off on the way. I expected it to be really difficult and expensive but I was pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t actually cost too much more to fly to New York, stop for a few days and then fly to Orlando. (I’m not sure why it costs more at all to get off the plane and get back on 3 days later rather than 3 hours later but it does) I then booked a hotel online, we will all be staying in the same room for 3 nights but not to worry, we won’t be spending much time in it.

So we will arrive in New York next Wednesday and have 2.5 days there. We have decided that shopping won’t be a priority as most of the stores like Macys and Bloomingdales can be found in Orlando. The girls would like to visit Abercrombie & Fitch where we understand you are greeted at the door by topless men!  We are going to take the hop on hop off bus tour to see as many sights as we can, including Top of the Rock and the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and the ice rink and Grand Central Station.

We’ve had allsorts of recommendations but probably won’t fit everything in. It would be nice to see a Broadway show but I think we’ll play that by ear. On Saturday morning we’ll go to the top of the Empire State building for a last view of the city before flying down to Orlando.

When we get to the house in Florida the first thing to do will be to put the tree up (hopefully the lights will still work) and the inflatable snowman on the front lawn. We’ll shop for presents for each other for Santa to bring then on Christmas Eve we’re going to the Magic Kingdom. The girls are now 18 and 21 so it’s a few years since we’ve been but you’re never too old for Disney. We’re really looking forward to it. We have booked Christmas day lunch at a nearby restaurant, hopefully it will be warm enough to sit out by the pool when we get back. Boxing Day is just another day in the US but it will be nice for us just to relax, play cards, watch TV and just enjoy being there.