Goodmorning from the Emirates First Class Lounge in JFK

Well, here we are in NY at JFK in the very lush first class lounge of Emirates waiting for our flight to Dubai. Andrew said we are living the lap of luxury here in the lounge. We just enjoyed a beautiful breakfast buffet and now we are enjoying some time in the computer area of the lounge. We started our journey to Dubai yesterday from Tampa and flew to NY in the afternoon. We arrrived in NY and the weather was much cooler than in FL. Last night it was in the low 60's, what a nice change. We checked into our hotel and then quickly got back to the airport where we caught the Air Train to the subway and then got in the city to meet our friends Melissa, Ilene, Alexi and Sierra and my big sis Lora. We had a great dinner at Ruby Foo's a chinese restaurant in Times Square and then we walked down Broadway and made stops at the M&M store, 3 levels I may add. Next was Virgin Records and then on to the mecca for kids, Toys R Us. I have to say even I was impressed with Toys R Us in Times Square. They have a huge carasel right in the middle of the store and Andrew was in heaven with the big Star Wars area and the huge Pokemon area. We took the subway back to the airport and got back to the room after midnight. The city was so exciting, the people, the smells, the lights. I must say I am glad we live in Sarasota though. Andrew pointed out a rat to us on the subway tracks last night. That was the first rat I ever saw in the subway.

We can't believe the big day is finallyhere. We are off on the trip of a lifetime. We leave at 11:20 for Dubai and fligh for 12.5 hours and arrive in Dubai Sunday at 8 am. Today is a beautifual and clear day here in NY, this was a great first leg of our big trip.