Ok, a middle age adult should not be this excited about a phone, BUT I am! Brought it home, unwrapped it and connected the dock to the iMac, inserted the iPhone and nothing!! No recognition.
Waited a few minutes, check the connections and all were good. Removed it from the dock and reinserted and just like magic - iTune's and activation start. Ported my number from Verizon and the whole process went smoothly. Less than 10 minutes after finishing activation I get the email that my number has been transferred.So sync-ed my data over and right now it just sits next to my iMac charging!
My Newt is home (yes - it has a name!)