16 Years Later

We just got back from a great trip to the East coast.  Spent last weekend in the Boston area with our son and his family.  As usual, it was great to reconnect with the ‘East Coast Zoo’.  It was a spectacular New England weekend with cool, crisp days and glorious Fall colors. We got in our share of soccer games and playing with the kids.  Lots of fun.

On Monday we took the train to New York City which was a great experience (very easy) and spent 5 days in the city.  Our hotel was one of the Marriott Vacation Club 'Pulse' properties.  It was very nice and the location was perfect on West 37th Street in mid-town Manhattan.  I've been all around the world.  Have visited many, many countries, big cities, major capitals and have seen a whole lot of this big marble.  But I've never been to New York City so I thought it was about time to fix that.  

It was a great 5 days!  We did all the tourist stuff, walked a ton, soaked in the sites and sounds of the city, and had some great meals.  The Empire State Bldg (which we had a view of from our room), the 9/11 memorial and museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Times Square, Central Park, and just walking around were the highlights.  It really is a spectacular city and it's true that it never sleeps.  No matter what time we ventured out there was a lot going on.  Of course, with so many people packed into such a relatively small space, there are some issues.  But overall, I thought it was pretty clean and it seemed safe enough.  Of course, we were in mid-town and not in the rough parts of town.  As a Westerner, NYC wasn't my cup of tea and at our age not somewhere we'd want to live.  I get the impression though that if it's where you're from, it's the best place in the world.  And if you're of a certain age (much younger than us!) it would be vibrant, stimulating and exciting.  I could see going there as a young person and never leaving.  We did get some taste of the expense associated with living there and it would be pretty daunting just to live.  One expense you wouldn't need though would be a car.  If I lived in the city I couldn't see a need.  

By far the most impactful thing we saw was the 9/11 memorial and museum.  It was so well done!  Whenever I go to places like this, it amazes me how talented some people are in interpreting events and history.  It was just perfectly appropriate.  The flow, the story, the reverence of the visitors, the impact of the displays were all almost overwhelming.  We both came away with such a better understanding of the devastation of 9/11 and how mind numbingly sad it was.  Not to take anything away from Flight 93 or the Pentagon, but the World Trade Center coming down is certainly the defining event of the attack.  When you look at the wall of faces and the display of notes from people looking for loved ones, you can help but get emotional.  We saw all kinds of people from all over the world and to a person they were respectful and reverent in the museum.  It was almost a religious experience.  

There aren't too many places that evoke such emotion in the populace.  I would say the USS Arizona, maybe Gettysburg, certainly Normandy, and now the 9/11 memorial and museum are places that are hugely impactful to Americans in defining what is worth fighting for.  I know that the memory will stay alive.  If you have a chance to visit, don't pass it up.