This is going to be a incredible day. A day so full of emotions that I felt that way as soon as I woke up. We are going to the National September 11th Memorial & Museum. Then tonight I am going to see my favorite songwriter in a small theater sing his songs and tell stories about his life....Springsteen on Broadway. So I decided to get outside early and take a relaxing walk around the neighborhood.
The Black Mountain Wine House at Hoyt and Union.
The sunrise down a cobblestone street.
I just love good street art.
Looking at downtown Brooklyn from the Gowanus Canal. When I clicked on the Gowanus Canal on google maps, it listed it as a superfund site with the epa.gov as it's website. It looked nice this morning.
A BBQ place on Union at the Gowanus Canal.
After my little walk, we headed to Lower Manhattan.
Walking up Fulton Street
St. Paul's Chapel of Trinity Church was built in 1766. It is the last Colonial Era church in Manhattan.
The North Tower Memorial Pool looking east. It was chilly with a strong wind this morning. As I walked around reading the names, I could blame the weather for the tears in my eyes...but that would make me a liar.
The North Tower Pool looking toward the base of One World Trade Center.
One World Trade Center
The 9/11 Museum. You can only take pictures in the open spaces around the exhibits. Honestly, that is perfectly fine with me. I've been to the Twin Towers several times in my life. As a kid, I remember a sign at the observation deck declaring "This is the closest some of you will ever get to Heaven". It was funny then and it still makes me laugh. But today, there was no laughter. I have a hard time explaining why I was very glad I visited this place today. As you walk through the exhibits, you definitely relive that day and the wide range of emotions that the weeks after brought to all of us. As a history buff, it struck me as strange to be at a memorial for something that I actually watched happen. Powerful, somber and sadness are a few of the words that come to mind. It has been awhile since I've seen the videos. I am embarrassed to say that I haven't really thought about it much except on the anniversaries until we bought tickets for the museum about a month ago. Since then I've thought about that day a lot. I remember how the attacks on American soil brought our country together like nothing else in my lifetime. Sure we were all stunned by the visual aspect of seeing it live on television. But I truly believe that we as a nation treated each other a little nicer after September 11th. I am not stupid, I know there was very real and ugly prejudice toward anyone that looked like the hijackers. But then I think about America now and I realize...the terrorists won. Our nation is divided in so many different directions that it seems to be pulling itself apart from within. If we continue let that happen, then all these people died in vain. That would be a shame.
This was the last piece of steel removed from the site. The main exhibit is within the footprint of the north tower. The museum does an excellent job of presenting the stories before and after September 11th along with a walking timeline of the events of that day. In the south tower footprint is a wall with photos of all the people that died due to the attacks. There is also a small theater that runs a continuous loop of the photos with their families and friends talking about them. I watched a few of the tributes but maintaining my composure was extremely hard. I went back to looking at the silent wall of photos. If you are considering a visit here, I strongly recommend you do it. I also understand if you do not. As a good friend of mine who lived through that day in NYC told me, "I am not ready to visit the 9/11 museum...yet."
After visiting the museum under the memorial pools, we walked around the south and north tower memorial pools with the sun out making it feel warmer.
The firemen are listed with their truck number on the south tower memorial.
The view from the south tower memorial.
So much glass and steel down here. I liked the stone buildings reflected on them.
Back to Brooklyn for a late lunch at Black Forest Brooklyn. A German restaurant with great pretzels and a tasty schnitzel sandwich on a pretzel bun.
A Brooklyn Stoop
After dinner with my Aunt Maryann and Christy at Becco on Restaurant Row. We walked them over to see Waitress at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Then Patty and I had a beer in Hell's Kitchen before heading over to the Walter Kerr Theatre to see Springsteen On Broadway.
This should not shock anyone. I absolutely loved this show. Bruce is such a good storyteller and he isn't too bad at writing songs either. He had me laughing at times and crying a couple of times when he talked about his mother. I knew he was going to play "The Wish" after talking about his mom. So I was tearing up in anticipation because that song gets to me every time I hear it. We were about 30 feet from the stage in the mezzanine of a 975 seat theatre. I've never seen him in anything smaller than a hockey arena. He captivated the adoring audience with stories about his family, his life and the band.Then he played incredible acoustic versions of his songs. It was an incredible performance by someone who I have seen outdo himself on numerous occasions over the last 33 years.I could on for hours about how great it was to see this show. If you really care, ask me about it the next time you see me.
We met Christy and Maryann at the Rum House in the Edison Hotel. There was a jazz trio playing and they were pretty good. So we stayed for a couple of post theater drinks.
They really enjoyed Waitress. So there were smiles all the way around our table.
We all were taking the F train home tonight so we walked through Times Square after midnight. I haven't seen it this empty in a very long time.
The West side
The East side
Christy and Patty went downtown to Brooklyn. I went to Queens with my Aunt. This was an amazing day for me in NYC. Due to night construction, a typical 35 minute train ride took more than 90 minutes. Even a disaster of a subway ride home, couldn't ruin my day...my Aunt Maryann has veal cutlets in the fridge.
