seth turned the big 30 in sept. and had been talking about going to new york city to see ground zero - especially since this is the 10th year commemoration of the 9/11 tragedy. i decided that a trip to n.y. would be the perfect birthday present for him, so we set a date- right before my annual trip with shannon, and we obtained passes for a certain day and time. we drove to shannon's and stayed overnight and then took the train into n. y. the next morning. some of the flooding from the hurricane that they experienced earlier was evident as the train neared the city. the subway was braved 4 times that day and also a taxi ride (hold on to your hats!!!) to the empire state building. we went to china town to get a knockoff watch that seth was obsessing about. (i used my sales skills to talk the guy down- something they more than expect!) and bought slices of n.y. pizza (oh my), and sat on a stoop to eat .
china town- where we began our quest for a knockoff watch...
the elevator in the empire state building- there were still 6 more floors to go on a different elevator. yow!
it rained a bit so visability wasn't perfect from atop the empire state bld. (as we were ascending in the elevator, my ears were popping.) we were able to see the new building at the 9/11 site. i believe that event changed that city. flags and signs were very visable everywhere.
the top of the empire state bld. taken from the observation deck.
central park behind the buildings
we arrived at the site of 9/11 early, so we sat across the street on some steps and watched the building of the newest addition.
this was a display that the workers had put up. .. "we will never forget"
this photo was taken of the new trade center from inside the park. there was a huge flag hanging from it. it will be the tallest building when completed. notice the trees - they are all the same height and we were told that they were taken from the site in pa. where the plane went down.
another view of the trade center- an amazing structure. there are some interesting programs on tv about this building and those who are working on it- well worth watching.
this is the "survivor tree"- the only one that survived 9/11. seth and i both felt that we were on sacred ground in this special place. i have videos of the pools that were built in the footprints of the towers that were destroyed but can't seem to get them on this blog- we'll keep trying.
a truly amazing trip and a birthday that seth and i won't soon forget.
