[Jeffrey Simmons]

By strange circumstance I found myself stranded in New York State for the first two weeks of August this year. My wife and I were just away at sea on a Mediterranean Cruise to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Our children were not with us for a change.

Whilst away, our daughter, who was working part of her vacation in the USA at a Summer Camp in upper New York State was unfortunately bitten by a spider. (Anyone who has seen Spiderman will know you have some strange kind of spiders in the good old USA.) The result of the bite was that she got a severe infection with complications and, to cut a very long story short, her foot became severely and dangerously infected and she had to be hospitalised for nearly a month. Not a way to spend an enjoyable Summer! Anyway, because of the seriousness of the situation, my wife and I had to rush out to New York to be at our Daughter's hospital bedside at the Westchester County Medical Centre. After almost two weeks of sitting in a hospital room, she finally turned a corner and we were able to get our Daughter released so that we could fly her home with us so she could recuperate over here at home in London.

Just before flying home, however, we had a day free and so with Daughter in back of our Buick hire car, with leg up on the rear seat, I drove around New York and right through Manhattan. Our destination, well you guessed it, an important place for me to visit during my lifetime, Frank Sinatra's birth place and his original home town, 415 Monroe Street, Hoboken, New Jersey. Everyone knows the house is not there anymore but the plot is.

Here are a few photo shots below:


Now I am always grateful to see anything which stands as a monument to the great Frank Sinatra but in my heart of hearts I believe that Francis Albert Sinatra deserves a lot more. What they have here in Hoboken is not nearly enough. I am in favour of the New York statue which Nancy and her family have been campaigning for and I would like to see that erected ASAP, if not in Times Square, then perhaps outside the former Paramount Theatre or some other appropriate location.

[lorenzotedesco]

Jeffrey,

What a nice post. Thank you. I hope your daughter is fully recovered. You and your family certainly have had an adventurous summer.

When our family talked about things to do this summer the three kids were interested in only one thing, visiting Hoboken. Alas, not to touch base with Frank Sinatra's roots but rather to visit Carlo's Bakery of The Cake Boss TV program which hopefully has not infected the viewing habits on your side of the pond.

Very nice pictures too Jeffrey.

Larry

[erniegy]

Second that, nice post and pics, lucky you.

[Keith]

Thanks for the pics Jeffrey and glad your daughter is on the mend.

[Lourdes]

Wonderful pics, Jeffrey.
Thanks for sharing.

[S V PELUZIO JR]

Nice picture. Thanks for sharing.

[Dina]

Sorry about your daughter's troubles, Jeffrey. It's great to see your photos though. Thank you for sharing them.

[Jeffrey Simmons]

Larry, as you can see I'm not one who would pass on a nice piece of cake. Clearly I had no idea about Carlo's bakery so perhaps that's something we have missed out on over here. I did stop off at the local Hoboken supermarket to buy some water and to answer the call of nature but apart from that the entire visit was purely to see Frank Sinatra's first home town.

Keith, thanks for your kind wishes. Our Daughter is, in fact, still in some pain and she can only get around with crutches and a wheelchair as she is still unable to walk on her foot! We have arranged for her to see specialists over here and we will hopefully find out shortly how things are going with her recovery. Clearly it is going to take some time for her to get back to normal.

There really are some dangerous spiders in the US, look at what one did to Peter Parker!

[marydaly]

Just wondering...Do they think the spider was a brown recluse?
I hope she makes a full recovery as soon as possible.

[irene soggia]

Jeffrey, I'm so sorry for your daughter and for vacation "postponed", but it was too good to be where FRANK was born!
I look and re-look your photos and I smile and I cry.
Thank you for having posted, thanks!

I wonder if one day I will be able to see this place!
For your daughter: get well soon !!

[ARIES3032]

Thanks Jeffrey for the photos! We really enjoyed them.

[Jeffrey Simmons]

Grazie tanti Irene Soggia x

[Jeffrey Simmons]

Originally Posted by marydaly

Just wondering...Do they think the spider was a brown recluse?
I hope she makes a full recovery as soon as possible.

Thanks, the weird thing is they, the doctors, seem to have no idea what it was and since it was dark at the time daughter also did not see what it was that bit her. Within a short time it had become very painful and swollen. Within an hour she needed to go to hospital - that's all we know!

[Tim]

Jeffrey -
First of all, I hope your daughter starts feeling better very soon.

Second, thanks for posting these pictures. I've been to Hoboken on several occasions, but have yet to make it to 415 Monroe Street. (my commuter bus has occasionally detoured from the Lincoln Tunnel area down to Hoboken when traffic has been nasty, and I know we've been on Monroe Street, but I could never remember the exact address number. So the next time I'm stuck in traffic, I'll be sure to take a look.)

[Mr. White]

The brown recluse and the black widow are usually considered the two most dangerous spiders found in North America. The brown recluse being the more dangerous of the two. However, I don't think the brown recluse's range reaches that far north....the black widow is more common in the south as well....I'm not even sure if that reaches New York. Hhm. I could be wrong.

Jeffrey- It's good to know that your daughter is out of the hospital and recovering at home. I hope she has a speedy recovery

[irene soggia]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Simmons

Grazie tanti Irene Soggia x

[Tina...]

Lucky you got to Hoboken Jeffrey, I only got to see the sign on the way from Newark airport LOL!

Awful for your daughter though, what a shock, I hope she's 100% soon.

[johnofphilly]

Yes, Jeffrey, elevating speeds healing. Perhaps the annoying aspects of swelling are a bit of the body's insuring over-reaction of white blood cells, but the good news is that her immune system has flushed the infection out. No doubt they used hot saline compresses to draw it out. I hope they didn't bombard her with excessive anti-biotics.

You never know what you'll encounter when you leave the beaten path. I go out walking after midnight past municipal parks and schoolyards, and I encounter numerous skunks, often in pairs. Don't know if they're monogamous. Even though they ignore me and go about their business, they intimidate me more than I could possibly intimidate them.

[gatsby]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Simmons

Thanks, the weird thing is they, the doctors, seem to have no idea what it was and since it was dark at the time daughter also did not see what it was that bit her. Within a short time it had become very painful and swollen. Within an hour she needed to go to hospital - that's all we know!

Hello Jeffrey,
I hope by now time she is fully recuperated and done with this ordeal.
Best,
Henry

[Jules]

Yikes! I hate spiders. Your poor daughter-glad she's on mend albeit slowly-must have been rather frightening to say the least.
Lovely pics though so at least something good came from her ordeal!LOL!