Day Eleven – Universal Studios

We are up at 6:30 which I know sounds silly when you are on vacation. Reason for such an early rise is two fold. First being is that if you are staying at a Universal Resort (as we are) then you are allowed into the theme park at 7 A.M. being an hour before the gates officially open. The second reason is to help me out by avoiding the hottest part of the day.

I had a panic attack as we entered the park area. I am yet to buy a pass for the two theme parks and I can’t find my Travel Card (MasterCard). I had a few beers last night and I may have left the card at Margaritaville. It is the only card I have due to a problem with my Bendigo Bank MasterCard two days before we were to leave. If I have lost my Travel-card then I am in deep poop. After 5 minutes of checking and re-checking my bag I finally found it. What a relief. I purchased a two day pass and we were ready to see the sights.

We started our adventure at Jurassic Park. There was nobody waiting in line for the Jurassic Park River Tour. In fact we were the only people in our boat and we sat right up front. I know we are going to get pretty wet. It is a fun ride where different dinosaurs attack you and where we also get attacked by raptors in a very dark environment. We made a steady climb in darkness then plunged down a sleep slope and yep I was right as we got drenched.
We next headed to  Hogsmeade for a go on the Harry Potter simulator ride. Wendy went on this ride yesterday with Kate while I rested back at the resort. Kate said in was pretty scary and that Wendy missed the whole ride due to her eyes being closed! I have a point to prove and on I went with Kate. Piece of cake apart from the heart palpitations. Does your travel insurance cover you for heart attacks that are sustained while on a ride?

We next went into the Poseidon adventure which again was a lot of fun. Kate tells me that you can You Tube the rides we have had a crack at.
Outside again and we watched an incredible acrobatic troupe do their thing. I had a look at the time and it is only 12.15 but we have already been on the go for 5 hours.

We went back to the resort for a rest with plans to come back tonight to have dinner at Bubba Gumps where shrimp cooked in every possible way is the fare. The girls have planned to have a swim in one of the pools at the resort. It didn’t happen as we slept most of the arvo and then just watched T.V. It is very tiring having fun.

Day Ten – Margaritaville

We are transferring today to our Universal Studios resort the ‘Cabana Beach.’ Wendy has ordered a Mears shuttle. With Disney World and Universal being in competition you understandably can’t use the Disney Shuttles. Cost is $20 per person for the 30 minute drive. The freeway is very busy with it being Easter Sunday and many people are on their way to church services. Check in time is not until 4PM and we arrived at 10:30. Lucky for us that our room was ready. Must say the resort is very swish.

Kate is excited as she can see the spire of Hogwarts in the distance from our 4th level window. The girls virtually drop their bags and head out to catch a shuttle to Universal. I had a nap then caught up on a few days blog. Just saw on Facebook that Kate has wasted no time in getting into the Harry Potter experience  as a photo has already been uploaded of her with a butter beer in hand, you need to have either read the books or seen the films to understand the butter beer reference. I have had a look at the Universal brochure and saw the there is a Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. If I remember correctly (having dined at the franchise in New Orleans) the food and atmosphere is pretty good. I messaged back to Kate via Facebook (how techo am I) that I would meet them there at 6 o’clock.

In fact I got itchy feet and headed over to Universal City Walk to have a look around. City Walk is much like Downtown Disney with the added advantage that both the Universal theme parks are right  next door. There are a lot of great restaurants, bars, clothing outlets and a cinema among other sights and sounds. I decided to pull up a stool at the Lone Palms outdoor bar just across from Margaritaville. There I can have some suds and watch for the girls to arrive. After all as Mr. Buffet is fond of saying ‘It must be five o’clock somewhere.’ I am drinking a lager called Land Shark which is brewed in Tallahassee. I think I am getting the gist of the etiquette of drinking here in the states. If you have a few beers when your fourth or fifth beer is handed over the barman doesn’t take your money off the bar. I reckon that this little gesture of kindest then encourages the said imbiber to leave a decent tip. The bar I can see across the road is named the ‘porch of indecision.’ My position gives me a great people watching opportunity. The girls arrived at 6 and we had a drink and then went to join the line to get a seat for dinner.

It took us about half an hour to get lead to a table. The time went quickly as a musician was playing solo to the dinner crowd.  He was entertaining with a good voice for the country tunes he favoured. I ordered a volcano burger in honour of the volcano pizza I once shared with Alan Moloney some thirty years ago. The waitresses have on cool t shirts with the back of them emblazoned with ‘only bait in town.’ Kate started singing along to a Bruno Mars song. I asked during the break if the singer (Eric Von) knew any Towns Van Zandt songs, he did but said that the crowd was not a music crowd and that he had to stay with well know chestnuts. He said after learning I was from Australia that he knew a Keith Urban song but he knew I wouldn’t want to hear that commercial shite, I had to agree.
Our meals seemed to be taking a very long time. Well over an hour and a half and diners that had arrived after us were already eating. We called over our waiter and asked if there was a delay with our meals. He was most apologetic and went to inquire in the kitchen. He was back in a few minutes with a lady who I assume was the supervisor who has also very apologetic. Our meals then arrived within five minutes. The food was very good. We got our bill and was most pleasantly surprised to see that the $63 food tab had been deducted. All we had to pay for were the drinks.

As we went to leave for home Eric Von was bringing down his gear from the same stairs we were using. We told him that we enjoyed his singing. He said thanks and gave us a free C.D. of his album ‘Down Here On The Island.’ All in all a good night, a belly full of beer, free food and some music to go with it.

Two tickets please on the Hogwarts Express

Rob Rowe

Day Nine – Hollywood Studios

The girls have weakened. They can’t handle bacon every day and have now opened one of the tubes of Vegemite I was carrying as gifts for my friends in New Orleans.

It only took 15 minutes on the shuttle bus to get to the park. Everything is so well organised that getting from resort to park and vice-versa is a breeze.
Being a holiday weekend there are a lot of people about but walking around is not to bad. We went into the Star Wars adventure. One of those 3d, get strapped in simulations where you know you are not moving but is sure feels like you are. I actually felt a little nauseous and was glad when we got out. Next up we hit a large theatre for the Muppet studio 3d show. What a hoot, with the old grumpy guys sitting up in the balcony with their corny jokes and Miss Piggy right in your face. Next up we went to the ‘Frozen’ sing-along stage production. I have not seen the animated film but I must be the only one. Kate is singing along at the top of her lungs. We then went and had a look at the extreme stunt driving show. Reminded me of the car park clearing out after a WOW Sunday arvo gig.

Lunch time and I had a turkey and cheese toasted sanga and Wendy and I have a frozen margarita. Pretty hot out in the sun. The theme parks are very civilised in that you can carry your alcoholic beverage around with you.

We next had a look around the Walt Disney museum and viewed a 20 minute film of his life. The man was a genius.
The Indian Jones show was pretty good, lots of spectacular stunts.

We left about 4:45 and got a shuttle back to Downtown Disney. Last night we were rushed with having to get to the House of Blues ( I thik I called it the Hard Rock in my last blog). We wanted to spend some more time exploring what Downtown had to offer. It was great to stroll around and enjoy the sights. Outdoor music performances, restaurants and stores of all descriptions. Kate purchased three prints from an artists co-op and she was served by an exchange student from Brisbane. I went into the Harley Davidson store to check out the merch. Looking for something to wear when I get on my machine back home. The gear was all a little tame for me. I talked the girls into buying some ice-cream from Ghirardelli, a chocolate store of the highest quality. I remember my trip to Chicago with Herbie, Brocko and Golly and how good the sundaes were there.
We got back to our resort around 9ish. Wendy has been averaging some 17,000 steps a day according to her wrist band thingy. No wonder my feet ache each night.

Tomorrow we leave for Universal Studios where we are staying at the Cabana Bay Beach Resort.

Rob Rowe

Day Eight – Laundry & Hard Rock Cafe

The girls are out early today to go to the Epcot theme park which is a representation of the worlds flora. I know tonight is going to be a late one so I volunteered to stay back and catch up on all our laundry. I have instructions about whites and coloureds but ignore them completely. There is a fully equipped modern laundry not far form our apartment block. Well it would be fully equipped if the in-house computer was working. I kind lady told me that out of 20 machines only two of the coin operated machines were functioning. The rest are linked to a card swipe system and that is off-line. She said her machine has 20 minutes to run. No worries, I went to change some notes to quarters and the same lady said that was not working either. I took a stroll down to the reception area to get the required $2.50 worth of quarters.

Back at the laundry and the kind lady that has helped out introduces herself as Penny and her husband is Tim. They are at a guess in their mid 50’s and are from Ohio. They have bought their two grandchildren on vacation  with them, both girls under 10. Penny told me that the kids have been living with them for the last four years as their parents, in her words, ‘did a bad thing’. I decide not to go there. Anyway they are both real nice people and we have a great time laughing and talking about our respective countries. After my laundry duties I just chilled out waiting for the girls to get back.

Tonight we are off to see the band Taking Back Sunday at the Hard Rock Cafe. Kate booked tickets on-line before we left Oz. They are one of her favourite bands and she was very excited to find out that they were playing when we were in town. The Hard Rock Cafe is situated in the area know as Downtown Disney which is not  a theme park as such but instead a great shopping area, restaurants and play areas. About 30 minutes by shuttle bus from our place. The area is located around a large lake and is incredibly scenic. The doors for the show open at 6 with the first of three bands starting at 7. Kate is very much like me as she is having a mild panic attack as we are going to be about 5 minutes late.

When we arrived and picked up our tickets at the booth you then had to show a photo ID to get in. I didn’t have one and the door guy asked his supervisor if I could be let in. He looked at me and said he more than qualifies, age wise.

We found a spot where Wendy and I could lean and watch the mosh pit in action. Kate is sure to be in amongst it when TBS are playing. I went and got us some drinks. I tried out a Florida Cracker which is a white ale, not bad at all. The first band are a young group by the name of ‘You Blew It’ and there is a lot of local support from the home town crowd. Second up was the Mezingers (spelled correctly for all you proof readers) who I really liked. I think I am the only 60 year old in the house that is sporting a Micky Mouse electronic bracelet!

The drum riser for TBS is a good four feet off the stage. When TBS start playing the light show is spectacular and the drummer looks if he is floating in space. Kate left our position after the first song to get up front and personal. From the first song everyone is singing, that is apart from Wendy and I. I wish I did know the words to the bands songs as they were fantastic. From the first note of each song there are screams of recognition. The singer reminded me a little of Jim Morrison with his strong stage presence and movements. Crowd surfers are up and about. Maybe that is something we could instigate at WOW. We could just pass our Zimmer frames overhead. I looked around the crowd and all the punters are singing every word of every song at the top of their lungs. Kate arrived back after the show had finished to tell us that it was the most polite mosh pit she has every been in. ‘They didn’t even push and shove!’

We had a terrific night. God knows that I have been dragging Kate and Cara to blues shows and festivals since they were born. I am now real glad to have gone along with Kate to dig her music.
We got out of the show around 11ish and the Downtown area looks spectacular at night. We were back at our resort around midnight. It sure was good to get to hear some real good live music.

The Disney All Stars Music Resort

Rob Rowe

Day Seven – Animal Kingdom

We all slept in until 10. Waffles and bacon and iced coffee for breakfast. The girls had pre-purchased all their day passes for the different Disney worlds before leaving Oz. Me I was playing it by ear and have decided to purchase a two day pass. The first for today’s adventure to the Animal Kingdom. We line up out front for our shuttle bus in the designated area for Animal Kingdom. We don’t have to wait long before the bus arrives for the short 10 minute drive. It is warm and humid but bearable.

Animal Kingdom is a zoo of sorts with each area themed. African, Asian, Discovery (conservation) and Dino Land. It is very well set out and built to resemble the type of area you are in. For example the African area is built to resemble an African Village with its own working train station. The food in this area is also African based. Lot of people around and I have just worked out it is spring break.

We lined up for the African Safari (sort of Werribee Zoo) but much better. There is a 50 minute wait but the line moves quickly and we are in a shaded area. It gave me a chance also to edit the previous days blog. Again carrying a tablet makes more sense than a heavy laptop. Not long and we are in the safari bus with Chelsea our driver for the 25 minute ride. You get up close and personal to many of Africa’s best known animals.
We then had a walk through the rain forest and after that caught the train over to Discovery Island. Lunch in the African Village, curried chicken and African spices with jasmine rice and flat bread. While we ate a Swahili band played some fine music.

We then went over to the Asian area. Again all the buildings and displays plus food is matched to various Asian countries. One of the highlights of this area is Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain which features a roller coaster ride to the top of Mt Everest. The line for this ride has a wait time of 35 minutes. Kate is real keen to have a go and Wendy is a definite no starter. That just leaves me and I bravely said yes. Again the line moves quickly and we are in shade. Just before you enter the ride area we go through the Yeti Museum which is pretty cool. There is a lot of Tibetan artifacts as well as stories of the Yeti legend.

No turning back now as I am locked into my seat for the ride. I know that we will be making a very steep climb and then a massive drop. What I didn’t know  was that we also do a lot of very fast backward movements in total darkness with ridiculous bends. Again what was I thinking! I toughed it out though and held my nerve. Even Kate said it was scarier than she imagined!  Of course as soon as you finish the ride you can buy a photo to remember the few minutes you just had of terror. I used my wrist band to purchase our photo but my hand was shaking so much it took me a long time to enter my four digit pin.
We then wandered over to Dinoland USA where Kate got some chicken nuggets. I saw a cool t-shirt that is perfect for Cara (Cara, you will have to wait until we get home) By this time is was close to 7 P.M. and I am dog tired (animal kingdom reference)and it is time to head home for a refreshing shower.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/animal-kingdom/

Rob Rowe

Day Six – New York to Orlando

April Fool’s day and I sure feel like one. What was I thinking last night? Not a good idea to have way to many pints of Guinness when you have to get up at 5A.M. the next morning for a flight. I hope I don’t get breath tested at check-in. It is only a two and a half hour flight but it felt like another long haul.

Once we landed in Orlando and collected our luggage our next job was to find the Disney Magic Shuttle Bus for our drive to the Disney Resort, which will be home for the next 5 days. Wendy has booked us in to the All-stars Music Resort. Our block is on Broadway and Times Square which is appropriate seeing we have just come from the big apple. Check in is easy and each us get an electronic wrist band which serves as a key to our room as well as being used to access the theme parks. I also had my credit card details stored on the wrist band. Whenever you need to buy food or merchandise the wrist band is used for the purchase. Disney World became a cashless world.

It is only just gone past 11 and before we went to our room we grabbed a bite to eat. The girls are going to head out to Magic Kingdom Land. Me I am just going to catch up on blog writing and chill watching some baseball. Everything is so organised. To get to Magic Kingdom Land the girls catch the designated shuttle out front of our resort. Magic Kingdom Land is open until midnight and the girls don’t get back to 1A.M. They had a great time and Wendy has some sensational photos of the parades and fire-works. Kate said her mum is a wimp when it comes to the rides, especially any sort of roller coaster. She did manage a couple of the kiddie rides though. Kate has now been called Elsa from the movie Frozen on a dozen occasions. Little kids call out, ‘hey mum, there is Elsa.’ Even one of the movie ushers called to her saying ‘come on in Elsa’. I must admit that when she has braided her hair then there is more that a passing resemblance.

I headed out around 6ish for tea. Roast turkey, mashed potatoes and corn. Pretty good.

Tomorrow after resting up I will be ready to hit my first theme park. Animal Kingdom.

Rob Rowe

Day Five – Last Day In New York

We are up at 8, last day in New York and there is still a lot to cram in. Erica told us on day one that we had to try out Doughnut World, in her words ‘the best doughnuts in the world.’ Well the stars have aligned for us. To get back to the W.T.C memorial we had to catch a different subway line which took us luckily to the said shop . I had to have two, a wild-berry doughnut with a coconut cream doughnut on the side, Kate went for the triple chocolate and Wendy the vanilla bean. Must admit the were pretty damn good.

We caught the Redline back downtown to the memorial. Today we wanted plenty of time to look over the museum. This blurb from the brochure sums up the experience. ‘The museum is the global focal point in the history of the events of September 11, documenting the impact of the attacks, and exploring their continuing significance through monumental and personal artifacts, first person accounts and multimedia displays.’ To see first hand enormous twisted support beams and to stand within the very foundations of the tower gives some size to the destruction. You travel down to the very foundations themselves. It is a marvelous museum to say the least. To see personal belongings charred from fire makes it close up an personal. One of the first hand accounts was some audio of a witness on the ground who describes seeing a lady standing at a blown out window 90 floors up. She was about to jump to escape the overwhelming heat of the fires. The witness said she saw the lady smooth down her hair and hold onto her dress as she jumped. Even in the last moment of her life that poor soul would maintain her dignity. The witness said that out of respect she did not turn her back on that unfolding event, she stayed with her until the end. We spent a good three hours looking over the museum and only really scratched the surface. There is a section that houses a photo of every lost life and you can sit and listen to relatives and friends, their recorded voices telling a little about each person. There is a Rowe that lost his life, maybe even a distant relative?

When we exited the museum it had turned colder again and the rain was coming down. We have been in town 4 days and we are yet to sight the lady with the lamp. Ted Bear and Jo had given us the heads up. No need to pay for a pricey ticket to view the Statue of Liberty. Much better to catch the Staten Island Ferry for a round trip viewing. We had to walk a few blocks down and passed the iconic raging bull statue. It is massive. I was amused to see as many tourists having their photos taken at the rear end of the bull as at the front. They would sit under the rump and grab hold of the dangling appendage (if you know what I mean). No wonder the bull appears to have a sardonic smile!

We found the ferry terminal and waited for the 3 o’clock departure. Must be 300 to 400 people waiting. I could not see a ticket booth and asked a local. No tickets required as the trip is free. Wendy got some good photos and now we can say that we have seen the Statue of Liberty. For the trip there and back we are escorted by a Coast Guard boat with a guy standing up front at the machine gun.

We had our first issues with the Subway. The ferry terminal also houses a subway station and as as you could expect there were many people trying to buy tickets for uptown. One guy working and one lady watching. Shift change over and neither of them appear to give a rat’s arse about customer service. We got so frustrated that we walked a block or so up to the next station. Unfortunately for us this station was not manned so we had a fight with the ticket machine, maybe Myki is not so bad after all!

Our next stop is Greenwich Village. For all you old folkies out there you will be aware of the music history of this district. For those who don’t know the history just think of a young Bob Dylan and literary giants such as Jack Kerouac. Washington Square is surrounded by the New York University.  It is a real clean district and if I ever come back to this city I would like to stay somewhere around here. Great looking restaurants and we stumbled upon two record shops. I had read about a pub called the Malt House and wanted to try one of their local brews. Nice place, dark and moody just as I like and the beer was good. Kate posted to Facebook to show my beer snob friends back home that I can drink this craft beer as well. (You know who you are – Terry, Phoebe, Rob, Ang, Ted Bear & Jo)

We were back on the subway for the ride back up to Times Square. The girls have preview tickets for a new show on Broadway ‘Looking for Neverland’ staring Kelsey Grammar. Me I am not so keen. The girls go to Maccas for a quick bite before the show and I head to the Hard Rock cafe. The place is packed and so I decide to find a better bar. The Irish pub O’Donaughs is just around the corner and I was able to get a seat at the bar and ordered a Samuel Adams Cold Snap. After one drink I was talking to a lady that was in town for a medical conference. She was from Boston. To the other side of me was a guy from Zimbabwe who has lived in New York for 30 years but still retained his accent. His wife was a pom. The barman is an expat Irishman and he has a few mates living in Melbourne. I switched over to a Guinness and had way to many pints. The barman stopped and chatted often and at one stage as I went to pay for my next Guinness he winked and pushed my money back at me. I said to him ‘you haven’t lost your accent.’ He said to me ‘why would I, it still gets me laid.’ Over to you Mr. Smith see if you can beat  a free pint of Guinness in Times Square. I staggered out of the bar at 10:15 to met the girls at the theatre. Tomorrow is going to be a long day as we have to be up at 5AM to get to the airport for our flight to Orlando.

Rob Rowe

Day Four – Central Park
We slept in until 10. Weather hasn’t changed much overcast and cold again.

We catch the Subway to 57th Street to get to Central Park. We sort of have the ticketing system worked out and Kate is directing us to the correct stations by using her phone app. Wi-Fi is available at all the stations which certainly is a great help to tourists. Couple of old ladies across from me are interesting to say the least. One of them is continually rubbing her fingers and hands as if she is trying to shed all her skin while the other old lady has a nice little conversation with herself. A busker dressed in bright red pants starts playing a violin between stops. I seem to be relating my New York experiences to Seinfeld episodes. Fair enough as the series was set in New York. Before I left I watched an old episode where Jerry talks about catching the subway to Coney Island which is incidentally the line we travel on daily. He said something along the lines of .. I caught the Subway to Coney Island
and it took an hour and a half, after riding the subway for that long there way no way I was going to get scared riding the roller coaster!

Just a short walk to Central Park but you have to run the gauntlet of the hustlers trying to sign you up for a buggy ride. I am an easy take and would have taken up one of the offers. Kate put her foot down and said we should walk. One of the hustlers in desperation even offered us the ‘Chinese Price.’
We purchased a $2 map and set off on a fantastic 2 hour plus walk through the park. Time was 11:30 and we grabbed a hot dog and a drink. There is still ice on one of the smaller ponds. There is a hell of a lot to see such as the fountain that features on a Friend’s episode, Ice Skating, beautiful bridges and statues including a magnificent Alice in Wonderland. Kate has spotted her first squirrel and has gone all gooey. I bought some hot cashews then we stopped to watch another squirrel that was not to shy. Kate turned her back on the said rouge man-eater and when she turned back it was just about in her back pocket. The scream echoed around the park. I dropped a small nut on the ground and our new friend decided to follow us and then another squirrel did the same. I could have finished up like the Pied Piper of Hamlyn.
Of course Central Park in now also famous for a part of the park named Strawberry Fields. An area set apart to pray for peace and pay respect to John Lennon who was assassinated just across the road at the Dakota Building. We crossed the road to the infamous doorway which is now guarded 24 hours a day. There was scaffolding all around the lower floors and it was for me like going to Rome and seeing the colosseum hidden by scaffolding. All in all a very enjoyable morning and early afternoon.

Not far from the park is the Nike store and Tiffany and Co. More shopping in store. Five floors of Tiffany and Co. was just to much for me. I went around the corner to the Donald Trump building and had myself a coffee.
We decided to walk back up to Time Square. Manhattan itself is not overly big and walking between districts is not to tiring. I heard a couple chatting and they had very strange accents. They are from Burnie in Tasmania.

Dinner for the night was at Olive Garden in the Square. Sort of like an upmarket LaPorchettas. The food was excellent as was the service. Kate may want to change the R.S.L menu when she gets back there. Her chicken parma came with a side of spaghetti bolognese in her words ‘my two favourite

Rob Rowe

Day Three
It is a beautiful sunny crisp spring morning as we set off for a walk along the East river on our way to the financial district. There are many early morning joggers out and about.

It only took us 15 minutes to walk to the financial capital of the world. Wall street is just a few streets from the Starbucks we decided to call into. Coffee and a danish and hot chocolate for the girls. This morning we have decided to visit the site of the 9/11 memorial. I as most people world wide can recollect exactly where I was when the hijacked planes slammed into the north and south towers of the world trade centre. A terrorist action that changed the world forever. We join many other visitors making their way through the tight streets to the sixteen acre complex in lower Manhattan. The then World Trade Centre included seven buildings, a large plaza and an underground shopping mall with the twin towers being the centrepiece. On September 11, 2001, the entire W.T.C was destroyed. As we have set off for this visit later than we planned then today we will just look over the site where building continues to this day. There are two lovely reflection pools each representing each tower and each persons name that died that day is inscribed on the outside structures of the pool. Included in those names are also all those poor people aboard the two doomed planes. People that knew their death was imminent. There were close on 3,000 people killed that day. It is distressing to read the names of expectant  mothers with unnamed child inscribed after their own name. We gazed with so many other people at those names with silent thoughts. What goes through human beings minds that they can kill so many innocent people in the name of religion. We will come back in a few days to spend the needed 2-3 hours to look over the museum.

We headed to the nearest subway to ride back up to Times Square where B.B.Kings club is located. We have tickets for the Harlem Gospel brunch. Doors open at 12:30. We are a little early so the girls head to H & M clothing store and I headed a few doors down the road to a Verizon office. Verizon and A&T are the two largest mobile phone and wireless businesses in the states. I have a mobile Wi-Fi from my last visit and I need to get it topped up and reactivated. Only took 10 minutes to do. The salesman helping me out recognised that I was Australian. He told me he had worked for the Australian surf clothing business Billabong. He wanted to know how they were going in Australia. He said he went to work one Friday for a sale day and the next day all the employees were out of a job.

I sat down at a table in a plaza outside the H&M store and waited for the girls to come out. The sun although weak felt good upon my back. I had a good ten minutes of people watching. We were in line waiting for the doors to open at 12:30 for the Gospel brunch. Fifteen minutes to wait but the time went quickly as B.B. tunes were played on the outside speakers. Buy the time the doors opened the line was snaking a fair way down the side-walk.
We have good seats but a little on the squashy side. Also on out table were three tourists from Germany. In fact most of the audience are from Europe. Included in the price is an all you can eat buffet. I loaded up my plate with cheesy mac, sausage, chicken, sweet potato, red beans and gumbo. The food was good and I still had a bit of room for a danish. Tried a Bloody Mary which was OK but nowhere as peppery and the Louisiana model.
The Harlem Choir performed for about an hour and all the members had great voices. The show itself is a little contrived for all us tourists I guess but I was glad that we  went to the performance.

We had to get back to the apartment by 5 o’clock. Kate as you may know likes tattoo art. There is a very famous tattoo model and photographer in New York by the name of Alysha Nett. Alysha is Kate’s favourite model. She has 270 thousand online followers. Kate had emailed her before we left on our trip and was very excited when Alysha invited her to her Brooklyn home  for a  free photo shoot. This is very exciting for Kate to get to model some of Alysha’s clothing range. Her photos are regular in the magazine American Inked.
I managed to get the first days blog online using my Samsung tablet and keyboard. I had decided not to bring my Laptop on this trip due to the weight. The tablet is much easier to lug around but it took a while to use it to write instead of using it just to browse.
The girls were back around 7ish and we headed out to China town for tea. Decided that if we saw a restaurant full of Chines people then the food must be good. Well it wasn’t that good and the Williamstown ‘old chows’ has much better food.

Rob Rowe