Visiting the 9/11 Museum and Other Historical Sights

So here we are with Day 3 of our trip to NYC. You can read about our country family visiting the Big Apple here, Chinatown & Little Italy here  and see some of the historical sights in NYC here.

We went for a visit to Ground Zero where the World Trade Center used to be. I had purchased tickets ahead of time which is a must otherwise you will be standing in line for a long time depending on the time of day you choose to visit.

You need at least 3 hours to see it all and you could easily spend 4-5 hours. They have done a great job with the museum and remembering the almost 3,000 people who died in the attacks. The museum is situated in the exact place where the Twin Towers used to stand (or at least one of them). Inside you will see some of the original walls that still are standing are the twin towers collapsed.

You’re not allowed to use flash photography in the museum and in some areas you are not allowed to take any pictures at all.

There are sections inside that tell the whole story of what happened and then separate areas for pictures, films and artifacts that tell about the Pentagon, the plane crash in Pennsylvania as well as the falling of the World Trade Center towers. You also can hear stories of the survivors.

One that I heard was about John Yates and it intrigued me enough that I wrote down his name so I could read about him later. The narrator mentioned that John Yates (who was at the Pentagon when the plane hit there) heard a voice telling him what door to go to to escape. The room was filled with smoke and they could barely breathe but he helped several to get to safety. You can read his story here – although you may find it, like me, to be written a little bit confusingly.

I thought this wall beautiful.

The saying on it is from Virgil – an ancient Roman poet, and it says, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” The letters were all formed from pieces recovered from the World Trade Center.

There are 2,983 individual watercolor drawings in this wall art, commemorating those who were killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 (another time the WTC was targeted). Every square is a unique shade of blue and is an attempt by the artist, Spencer Finch, to remember the color of the sky on the morning of September 11.

The idea behind this is that what one person perceives as blue might not be the same as what another person sees. Yet our memories, just like our perception of color, share a common reference. (taken from a plaque at this wall)

Other things you will see…

Read this story of the last survivor to be pulled from the World Trade Center rubble. Incredible story! It’s pretty long but worth the read.

I consider the 9/11 Museum to be a “must-see”. It was so well done and although you grieve seeing everything you also could get a sense of the community that happened after the attacks.

The 9/11 memorial is right next to the museum and it’s free but really I didn’t understand the “why” of its design. It was not impressive in the least and not worth going out of your way to see unless you are going to the museum.

The World Trade Center Mall just recently opened and is adjacent to the museum.

It’s supposed to symbolize a doze and once you go through the doors…

…it opens to an underground shopping mall that is 365,000 square feet.

They have rebuilt one of the twin towers.

Called ‘One World Trade Center’; it reaches 1,368 feet and is the tallest building in the US.

104 stories, 3 million square feet, cost $3.9 billion

Across the street is St. Paul’s Chapel

The chapel was opened in 1766 and George Washington came here to pray after he was inaugurated in 1789 as the President of the United States.

I don’t know what the name of this structure is but I am so amazed by the older buildings and how detailed they were.

You may think it silly but I wanted to go to the Financial district to see the place that shapes world business.

Here was the New York Stock Exchange.

The streets are pretty quiet in this area because for the most part the roads are closed to traffic.

Across the street from the New York Stock Exchange is Federal Hall where George Washington was inaugurated. And I didn’t get a picture of it except for this one of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. But you can imagine an imposing stone building with steps and large columns.

And a stroll through the neighborhood…

The famous Tiffany & Co…

The Trump Building

And you know what? There wasn’t one sign out front saying, “Vote for Trump”! lol

And we’ll continue our stroll next post. 🙂

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