We had one main objective on Monday, and it was to visit the 9/11 Memorial Museum. I knew it would be an emotional day, but I felt so compelled to visit and understand that tragic day better.
We took the subway clear downtown (always a fascinating experience) and walked through the new One World Trade Center. It is a gorgeous minimalist building with white surfaces everywhere and lots of cool light. The line was not long for the museum, and so we went right away and I felt a little bit nervous and not sure what to expect.
There was so much to see there and so much that just didn't feel right photographing. This was the last steel beam that the iron workers removed from ground zero about a year after the attacks. It was covered with pictures of many of the dead with messages of remembrance. The whole museum was brilliantly designed. It took us through all of the actions of the day, the way the news broke, everything. There was one particular part of the museum that recounted the real human toll of the nearly 3,000 people who were slaughtered that day. The details were graphic and mind-numbing.
There were some details that I had remembered, like people jumping from the buildings, but he kind of blocked out. There were lots of first-hand accounts of people who watched things happen. One that really stayed with me was that one person saw a woman in business attire stand at the precipice, pause for a moment, and then hold her skirt down as she jumped. It just seemed so human, like something I would do. That was probably the thing that hit me the hardest going through that museum--that these were all REAL people. Of course, I felt great sadness when it happened and have frequently thought of those who died, but its so different when you see their faces and hear their stories.
There were so many stunning artifacts there, from the terrorists boarding passes to the children's pajamas who died in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. We heard things too that I could never forget. Like the black box recording of the terrorists telling people to calm down before they crashed the plane, the airport workers telling each other in the tower that the Pennsylvania flight had crashed, and the fire chief's answering machine with dozens of messages from people who were worried and looking for him and he would never be found. We were at the museum nearly 3 hours. I couldn't look away. I had to understand. I think especially because of the recent attacks in Paris, it felt so fresh and present. Not really like history at all.
The memorial itself was very beautiful, but I found it more haunting than peaceful. The dark stone and the way the water goes down into the pit felt a little bit ominous to me. There were children laughing and singing near by and it just felt wrong to me. This whole morning reminded me of how real evil is and how we have to fight against it so proactively. Just as surely as there is evil in the world, however, goodness is always stronger.
The stories of bravery and Christ-like sacrifice stood out more than anything. I hadn't realized that such a large number of the dead were rescue workers. One eyewitness account was of a woman begging a young firefighter not to go in the burning towers. He told me, "Lady, it's my job. I have to do it!" One thing I hadn't thought about much were all of the people who volunteered to help there after and saw unspeakable things. There was a map of how far they found human remains away, and they spread out several blocks. These clean up workers sacrificed their well-being and probably sanity to try to help put things back together. So much goodness hitting up against so much evil.
It was sort of hard to resume the trip after that, to be honest. I just had an added appreciate for what the city has been through and how much grit it has to have bounced back so much after 14 years or so. After we left, we didn't talk about what we saw there for a few days. I think it was just all too heavy. I had cried a lot there, and we were just ready to keep moving. We had planned to eat at an Indian restaurant but when we got there it was unexplicably closed, but serendipitously, the Mexican restaurant next door was one that a local had told us was good. We both got the tri-colored enchiladas, which were yummy.
We visited the Highline park in Chelsea, and it was a Romantic walk through the city at night. We could see the lights reflecting off the Hudson, and it was so serene. The park itself isn't much to see, but it was a great way to see the city and the pretty buildings around. After walking around for a few hours, we stopped at Billy's bakery and had some banana pudding and hazelnut cheesecake.
Later we hopped on an Uber to Grand Central Station where we went to an Apple Store (Again!) and did some other light window shopping as well as share a hotdog. The station is really pretty and there was good people watching. We were both pretty drained by this point, so we took the train to 79th late at night and walked to our hotel on 77th.
We had the next morning to hang out before we needed to head to the airport so we strolled around the Upper West Side for a few hours. We went back to the Sugar and Plum because we had loved it so much the first time. Shaye got this Fluffer Nut waffle (marshmellow fluff and peanut butter!) and it was out of this world. I had this French toast crunch with berry compote that was pretty good too. We got Emme and my parents and Grandma some fun treats as souvenirs there too.
Shaye took these lovely shots of out hotel. It was built in 1903 and Mark Twain stayed there once. Mark. Twain. I wouldn't shut up about it once Shaye told me that and I kept envisioning him walking through the lobby. Mark Twain! Our room was a little run down, but the charm saved it. The first night the radiator kept us up because we aren't used to such things. Shaye called the front desk frustrated the next morning: "This black thing coming out of the floor! What is it? Is it supposed to be heating our room??!" I'm like "Shhhh....babe! That's a radiator!" I laughed about that for days!
The last few hours in the city were weirdly maybe my favorite. By then the romance was full throttle for me. We knew it was back to reality soon, but I had realized how much I genuinely love being with Shaye when everything else is removed--our home, our kids, our daily routine. It was a wonderful feeling to just have fun. Shaye was adamant about getting some good urban shots of me. I felt terribly vain walking around because he was snapping my picture like some paparazzo. People were looking at me with curiosity. He just kept telling me that I looked beautiful and I could feel his affection in this simple way. It capped the trip off and made me feel light hearted. With the final stroll around this part of town, I thought, "Yep, we've got to stay in the Upper West Side next time too!"
Honestly, I think this is the best trip I've ever gone on.
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