So, here is how this happened. A couple of months ago, Cathy messaged me on Facebook and asked if I would be interested in going with her (actually, meeting her there) to visit Megan in New York City. I didn't even think about it, I said I was in! I debated a bit about whether to get a cheap flight out of Chicago, which would be direct but require an overnight in Chicago, or to use Delta miles and leave from here. That required a change in ATL, and would take longer, but I could leave from home. Even though I was planning to save my miles for my next trip to Spain, I decided to use the miles, which made my flights cost a grand total of $11.08.
I was so excited, that it almost seemed like I was going out of the country. Cathy has been several times, so she had some ideas and I had some ideas, and we worked out an itinerary that was a little taste of everything. We were to arrive on Friday, Feb 26, and leave Feb 29. She actually flew up on Thursday night, but her flight was so delayed that she arrived around midnight. My first flight was a little delayed, and I was a little panicked when I got to ATL and discovered that my next gate, instead of being in the same concourse (C), it was in the main terminal. I had to go down to the trains and get over there, and I arrived just in time for an announcement that the ongoing flight was also delayed by an hour. Whew! I got to NYC right around noon, and took a cab to Megan's apartment.
I changed into jeans, then we set out for my first taste of the city. (Megan was still at work.) First we went to a crazy-busy burger place that Megan likes, then had our first experience with hijacking Uber cars. We had requested a car, and the app said it would be a black Toyota Corolla. One arrived and we hopped in the back. The driver said, "Dahlia?" and Cathy said, "No, Cathy". The driver repeated, "Dahlia?" and we suddenly realized we were in the wrong car! So we hopped back out, and got in the other black Toyota. Funny...but it wouldn't be the last time.
We then went to the Staten Island Ferry to sail past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The ferry actually comes fairly close to the statue, which seemed smaller than I thought it would. I mean, I realize we were still seeing it at a distance, but it still seemed smaller. I looked down into the nasty dark water and thought about my friend who swam around Manhattan a few years ago, and I couldn't imagine being in that water myself. The best part - the ferry is free. When it got to Staten Island, we just stayed on while everyone got off, thinking that a new load would come on and we would go back. We were just sitting there talking when a boat policeman yelled at us to hurry up and get off! So we trotted off, went around to the ferry dock lobby and got into the crowd to get right back on a few minutes later. I'm not really sure why we needed to get off - it certainly wasn't because they were cleaning the boat between trips. We also discovered that some ferries have outsides where you can go up on deck, and some do not. Ours did not. Bummer.
The view of Manhattan coming back was stunning in the afternoon sunlight, and I spotted the place in Battery Park where my friend set out on his swim. We then took a cab to the 9/11 Museum, which only opened about a year ago. The whole museum is underground. The footprints of the two towers are fountains, with the names of the victims cut into metal plates around the sides. The water flows from the walls of the holes, toward the center, and down into a smaller center square. There are lots of trees planted around the plaza, but there is one tree there that survived the whole disaster and is still alive. Seeing the plaza, it was hard to imagine how they ever could have cleaned up and cleared away all of the debris. The area is huge.
The museum was just breathtaking. There is an "In Memorium" section, with photos and stories of the people who died that day. You can look up any individual person and read about them, and also sit in a center room and hear family members and friends talking about the various people. Throughout this area, you could hear the "reading of the names" that they do on anniversaries. How long does it take to read out almost 3000 names? All around, you could see twisted girders and footings from the original buildings, some grafitti'd with the names of workers and departments who helped clear the wreckage.
The other section of the museum, the larger part, is called "On the Day". No pictures are allowed inside. It is basically a timeline of 9/11/2001, from the first reports of something going on in NYC, to the news of the Pentagon, and the plane crash in PA. There are TV screens showing the special reports that were airing, whole destroyed fire trucks and melted police car doors, huge hunks of window glass, all kinds of things found on the streets, photos of all that was going on that day, the "missing" posters that were everywhere, the little shrines that popped up all over, stories of unsung heroes. There are several little darkened side rooms where you can sit and listen to people telling their stories of that day - how they heard about it, where they were, what they did, their panicked attempts to reach family and friends, The one room that I had to leave was one where they were playing the voicemails and phone messages from people on the planes, or trapped in the high floors of the buildings, people who would be dead within minutes. The one thing I was worried about seeing, which I did not see anywhere, were images of people jumping from the towers. To me, that was the most horrific thing of all.
We were there almost four hours. Then, after some confusion about where they could pick us up (no stopping along the blocks containing the museum and the new Freedom Tower), we got in another Uber and went to meet Megan and a couple of friends at a little neighborhood pizza place called Patsy's. It has been there since 1933 (I didn't even know pizza was a thing in 1933). New York pizza is interesting, though not my favorite thing. But, of course, any pizza is good pizza. It was a fun evening, and Megan's friends are great. When we got ready to leave, we ordered another Uber. It was supposed to be a Ford Explorer or something larger (they tell you what the vehicle is, color, and license plate number), and we went outside to wait. A minivan pulled up, and Cathy walked out to meet it. When she opened the door, there were little kids inside. Then the driver hopped out, saying she was just there to pick up a pizza. LOL - attempted hijacking number two!
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