New York

Our first stop on our last full day was the 9/11 Memorial at the site of the former World Trade Center. That fateful day nearly 20 years is still etched vividly in my memory and I’m sure it was the same for anyone else who was around at that time. I was living in Los Angeles at the time. I was woken up by a call from my brother. He told me what had happened and urged me to stay home as the planes were headed to LAX. I had recently lost my job, so I didn’t have anywhere to go. As I sat at home watching the horrific scenes unfold on television, I realized that this would push the US into an even longer recession and so I had to hunker down and prepare for long term unemployment. It was a period of my life I do not care to go through again.

We walked to the former WTC and waited in line with our tickets which we purchased earlier online. The museum staff let us in at 10am. The museum itself was deep underground. The first part of the museum focused on the WTC and its construction. The more interesting exhibits included insights into the design and construction of the WTC, a fire truck that had been damaged by debris, and parts of the structure that sustained direct hits from the aircraft. After viewing the outer exhibits, we wandered into other exhibits that detailed the events of the day, and what some of the victims experienced. It was quite intense and overwhelming, and after two hours we realized we were maxed out and that we would have to see the rest of the exhibits at a future visit. Exiting the museum, we walked around the two pools that had been constructed on the footprint of the twin towers. I wondered why this hasn’t been designated as a national park. It certainly deserves to be.

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