9/11 Memorial Visit

Hello, everyone.

It's been more than a while since I blogged but thanks to a gentle kick in the pants from my friend, Lisa, I'm here writing a long overdue post.  Thanks, Lisa!  LOL 

I hope you've been having a good winter.  We've had our share of both cold temps and snow so far but we didn't let that stop us hearty New Yorkers.  School has been closed this week for winter break.  Jim is on vacation so we've had a very much needed week to have some fun and reconnect as a family.  

We decided to take a trip into Manhattan and finally go see the 9/11 Memorial.  None of us have been down there yet so I guess it was time.

Here are Logan and Caterina on the subway as we headed into the city.  

Here are Jim and the kids while we waited in line to enter the memorial site.  It was windy and cold out there.  My eyes were tearing from the wind.  Happily, we didn't wait too long in line.  We didn't know it at this point but once we cleared this area, we had to go through security screening like that at an airport.  Ever so thankfully, the security screening was inside a building so we didn't freeze when we had to take off our coats prior to being screened.  The security process was a tad annoying but it was also quick and efficiently organized. 

Here's a shot of the Freedom Tower.  We saw this as soon as we came up out of the subway.   They're getting near the top with window installation.

 

Here's a picture of the Memorial.  It was a very powerful scene.  The sound of the water was loud.  I'd seen the Memorial on TV but I never thought of what it would sound like.  Due to the cold, there was a coating of ice on the walls beneath the water.  

  Another angle of it.

The roses in this name made us all stop and reflect for a moment.  Seeing the flowers made one realize these weren't just names cut into the steel.  They were loved ones for whom people still mourn. 

 This building will be the museum when it opens.

My memories of that awful day are still very vivid so I was unsure how visiting the site would make me feel.  I'm glad we went.  We were all affected by the site and I wonder if that isn't because we are New Yorkers and this was our city that was attacked.  We saw many people there who were not so respectful of the solemnity of the memorial.  I even saw a guy attempt to sit on the ledge where the names are so he could have his picture taken.  I was just about to say something but a security guard beat me to it and stopped him.  The guard even went so far as to chastise him for not having respect for where he was.  

I wish the events that caused this memorial to be built never happened but I'm glad there is a memorial, and a beautiful one at that.

This was just the beginning of our day.  I'll write about where we went after this later.

Wishing you all a peaceful night.   Thanks for reading.