Dooda, Neeper,
yes, I love NYC. I've lost count of haow many times I've been there, but each time was on business, with little time to play, so I've to see such things as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.
The last time I was scheduled to go there, I'd pre-arranged a meeting with an old friend and co-author of the first book I (we actually) wrote. That was set for around Oct 4 2001. This was going to be the first time I was able to spend time in NYC as a tourist.
We were scheduled to leave Sydney for a couple of days in LA on Sept 12, and then on to Milan and Lago di Como for the F1GP. With US airspace closed, we rerouted through Singapore but had to cancel the NY and SF parts of the trip.
My friend works just a few blocks from Ground Zero, and thankfully I was able to ascertain very quickly that he was fine.
ATM, we're looking at a visit to the west coast + EU in the September/October timeframe; whether we'll be able to fit in NYC is yet to be seen, but our window of opportunity for the trip is very short.
When it comes to the vulgarity that's Vegas, I have to say that I'm actually quite proud of my boys. In 1998 I took them there - we were on a road trip taking Sycamore 2 back to LAX to return to SYD - and we spent one night there ... just because we could.
Although the bright lights certainly sparkled, I was pleased to hear them both remark about unpleasant the place was, and they wondered why people would bother to go there.
But they both did enjoy Key West, and we were discussing that just last week, as it happens. That's where I get my cigars from,
btw.