Roadtrek Travels: 9/16/18 NYC & 9/11 Memorial

9/16/18

After some snacks in our room, we walk a few blocks to catch Bus #320 to NYC's Port Authority. $17 for two RT tickets from the machine. A group of German men board with us. We have seen folks from all over the world - hard to tell if they are tourists or residents! Middle Eastern folks, Orientals, Indians, all shapes, colors and sizes. These Germans are almost all very tall and I joke that they are a basketball team....could be!

At Port Authority, we look for the Blue Line of the subway, which will take us to the World Trade Center.

The subway is cleaner than I expected and people are generally polite. We aren't sure at one point whether to follow the sign for uptown or downtown, but a gentleman at a news stand points the way (downtown it is). We go about six stops and get off at Church & Park Streets.

Just a few blocks to the 9/11 Memorial.

The sky is blue and sun is shining but it isn't too hot - perfect! There is some construction going on nearby and they have colorful walls around it.

We have tickets for the Museum and for an outdoor tour, so we ask and are told we don't have enough time to do the Museum before the outdoor tour, so we just wonder around the two outdoor pools which mark the footprints of the two towers. North and South seem to be identical.

There are many people but the atmosphere is solemn and quiet. Oriental tour groups and many other nationalities too. Don't sense many locals but there are quite a few WTC Security people.

We pick up headphones and meet David, our guide.

He gives us some history of the World Trade Center complex, which was made up of 7 skyscrapers where nearly 50,000 people were employed."Peace through Trade" was the motto of the complex.

The Memorial takes up 8 acres and the museum is, for the most part, underground. The two pools mark where the two towers once stood. The pools have falling water which drains to a pool which then drains to a deep dark hole which reflects the "Reflecting Absence" theme of the design. The pools are surrounded by a short wall covered with a bronze top into which the names of all those lost on 9/11 are cut (again the absence theme).

An incredible amount of planning, thought and feedback went into the placing of names. They are grouped according to the building, plane or other location where they died, but close friends are placed near one another. Families are grouped together - several on the planes, brothers who worked at Canter, a NYC policeman is next to his brother who was a NYC Fireman. 441 of those who died were first responders who are listed with their units. In one case the name of a man traveling on the plane that hit the north tower is placed next to a women in that tower who was best friends with his daughter.

David shares these and other stories, which are heart rending. The victims from Flight 93 in Shanksville and those from the Pentagon are also listed, as well as 10 unborn children and 6 people who died in the 1st attack on the WTC in February 1993. 2977 lives. He stops by the name of Betty Ann One - a flight attendant who provided details on the attackers and events while her plane approached the second tower; Christine Lee Hanson the 2 1/2 year old on her way to DisneyLand; Mycal Judge, an Irish Chaplain beloved by all.

On their birthdates, a single flower is placed on the person's name. There are two today.

Between the pools is a single tree that somehow survived the destruction. It was taken to an arboretum in Brooklyn and nursed back to health, then returned here as "The Survivors' Tree". A sign of hope amongst so much destruction and despair.

We finish the tour and head to the museum, which is under the memorial plaza. The original towers went 4-5 stories underground.

It would take all day plus some to read, watch and listen to everything that is presented here. There are first hand accounts by survivors and residents and an immense number of testimonials, historical perspectives, photos, wreckage debris, tv coverage that we all watched open-mouthed - over and over - and more. Such a powerful presentation!

( No photography in the exhibits that dealt with personal biographies and stories.)

This is one of last standing columns.

Here are the remains of fire truck crushed in the collapse.

It makes things too real and after a while it was emotionally draining.

There was even a small story about the terrorists and Al Qaeda. With their threat/promise to do a better job next time, I couldn't help wonder what it is like to work in One World Trade Center - the new tower that rose from the ashes.....

After the museum, we went through the nearby Oculus - the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

An amazing construction, it houses many shops in the front and transportation connections in the rear.

We found the blue line back to Port Authority without a problem, and decided to walk around a bit before heading back to New Jersey.

We walked a few blocks to Time Square. Wow! People everywhere! Lots of interesting characters from homeless to "lady boys", tattooed folks, ladies dressed to the nines - what a place to people watch! It looks a little different than the last time I was there in 1973 :)

We find the Times Deli and order some sandwiches and drinks, chatting with a couple from Florida who are finishing up their visit today.

The sandwiches are so huge that we eat half and pack the rest in our backpack for later. We walk by many theaters on our way back to Port Authority. Some incredible architecture!