Big Apple Getaway

Emma and I spent the last 5 days in NYC as she celebrated an early birthday. She determined what she wanted to see & do and I was able to coordinate the trip and enjoy the big city with her. We stayed in a lovely hotel with a great view of Times Square...right in the heart of things. This trip has been on her wish list for quite some time and it was great to experience it with her.

Aside from seeing some Broadway shows, the main tour she wanted to do was visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.  It was the first activity of the trip and I’m so proud of her for wanting to see something so heavy and impactful for our country.  I, like so many people, remember exactly where I was as the attacks unfolded and remember running to the store to purchase a TV antennae to watch the news coverage from work.

It was surreal to see pieces of steel beams from the Trade Centers that were bent and twisted like twist ties from the impact of the planes and unimaginable heat as the fuel from the planes burned and accelerated the weakening of the beams.

The images of the missing person posters that hung around the NYC area were displayed on a loop.  There was a memorial room with images of the 2,977 souls lost on 9/11.  The two memorial pools that stand in the footprint of the Twin Towers display the names of 2,983 individuals killed at the World Trade Center which includes the names of 6 killed in the 1993 Trade Center bombing.  We found both the picture and name of Chris’s cousin who lost his life that day in 2001.

While I could write page after page of information from our experience, I will limit it to a few more items and the pictures that speak for themselves.

• The Freedom Tower is a new (ish) WTC building.  It is 1,776 feet high and the height acknowledges the year the US was founded.

• On the birthday of the deceased, a white rose is placed by their name.  There is at least 1 birthday each day of the year.

• There is a separate area of the outdoor memorial for those whose lives have been cut short due to medical conditions resulting from the attack.  Sadly, this number continues to grow.

• We also learned there is a medical examiners office on site that continues the arduous tasks of identifying remains from the attack. We were told that over 40% of those lost in the attack have yet to have remains identified (or found).

• After the attack, an 8 foot stump of a Callery pear tree stood at the original trade center site.  It was removed and taken to a nursery in New Jersey where it was nourished and began to grow again.  It’s referred to as the “survivor tree” and is over 30 feet tall now.

• There were 431 first responders lost.

• The attack lasted 102 minutes.

• The last column, the final piece of debris removed from the south tower, was removed on May 30, 2002, 9 months after the attack.  It was treated with great reverence and had a flag placed over it as it processed away from the site.  It’s now a main focal point in the museum.

In my opinion, the memorial and museum was very well done. If you have the opportunity, please check it out.

The emotionally lighter part of the trip included checking out Times Square, seeing the Statue of Liberty, shopping, eating and seeing some Broadway shows.

Believe it or not, Lady Liberty was a bit elusive. She’s still there but Emma wanted to see her from across the Hudson rather than taking a ferry to see her. I thought Battery Park would be the best place to see her but the construction and revitalization of Battery Park left us with fences and tarps blocking our view.  We spent enough time walking that we eventually caught a few glimpses of her.  I don’t think I could ever tire of seeing such a magnificent statue.

Emma picked & Juliet, Harry Potter and Wicked as her first Broadway shows!  They were excellent choices and we thoroughly enjoyed each one.  I did learn, however, that I need to up my Harry Potter game!  I’ll be doing some studying on that before long.  Emma said it’s too challenging to say which show was her favorite and I agree.  Each show was amazing and special in their own way.

We went to the iconic Macy’s store on 5th Avenue and iconic it is!!  It was 8-9 stories high and took up much of a city block.  There were restaurants, lounges and bars inside the store!  This includes a McDonalds restaurant right in the middle of the kids clothing section.  Well played, McDonalds!  We were able to see some of the Spring flower displays in the store which were lovely. Signage indicated they would be unveiling displays in their entirety the day we depart.  All in all it was a fun, though a bit overwhelming of a stop.

We had one day of heavy rain but we didn’t let it stop us.  We decided we’d go to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)…but so did just about everyone else in the City.  Not surprisingly, it’s quite a destination, particularly on rainy days.  We made it there, on foot, after 3 Ubers cancelled on us only to find the admission line around the block…the long block.  Not wanting to stand in a downpour any longer, we went to the NY Public Library.  We both like the climate disaster movie, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ so we thought it would be an apt place to visit.  It was neat to see areas that were portrayed in the film including the grand entry, balcony, architecture and reading room (which we could only catch a glimpse of).  Fun fact:  there were no stacks of books in the library.  Apparently books are kept across the street and in a building under Bryant Park.  Really, we didn’t see a single book.  You can request a book be transferred to the library to read in one of their reading rooms (many are only available by reservation). We did see a photograph exhibit of the arctic and an art exhibit called Treasures which was nice but no books! By the way, when I mention downpour, I mean that type that soaks you completely. In fact, we were so soaked I had to use the blow dryer to help dry our shoes.

Being a foodie, Emma enjoyed the variety and hefty portions in the Big Apple. It took me a while to learn that the although options might the limited, the kiddie menu had portions that were more sensibly sized.

I could go on and on about the fun we had on this adventure but will close this post by noting how grateful I am for being able to share this experience with Emma.

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