We got up around 7 a.m. again and ran out of bananas so we didn't have anything to eat. Mom showered, we both got ready for the day, made sure we had everything and found the appropriate subway, the yellow W train, to go down to Battery Park. This is where we connected with our tour, we had reservations for, to go to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had to be there before 9 a.m.
We got off the subway and walked down to the tip of Manhattan to get in line to get on the ferry to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There were a lot of people on this tour starting very early. We knew we weren't going to make the first ferry because we had to stand in line, get our tickets scanned and go through another airport-like security check point. Meanwhile, I checked to see if there were any caches or Adventure Labs in Battery Park while we waited. There was an Adventure Lab, and we could do one of the waypoints while we waited in line.
We finally got to the security tent and prepared to go through it like we would at the airport. I understand why we do this--we weren't far from where this change took place back in 2001. We got through security, gathered our stuff out of the bins and got in line to get on the second ferry of the day. We piled onto the ferry and headed across the harbor to The Statue of Liberty first. We sat in the lower deck of the boat that was covered because it was chilly that morning and Mom wanted a blueberry muffin and some water. We ate our very dry muffins as we glided to The Statue of Liberty.
We got off and Mom and I headed to the statue so we could start our pedestal tour, which requires a reservation. We made sure we had our tickets pulled up on our phone and walked over to the pedestal entrance. A park ranger was standing there checking our reservation and let us know that we had to store our back packs in the set of lockers nearby. We were lucky to have 25 cents on us for the deposit. We placed our stuff in the locker, put in our quarter and pulled the key out. We put or key in a safe place. Don't worry, you got your quarter back when you retrieved your bags and other items when you were done.
We went inside The Statue of Liberty and followed the signs. We had to walk up several flights of stairs, 215 to the pedestal and if you had a reservation and access to the crown, another 162 from there. After all the walking we did in the previous days, our legs and feet were so exhausted by the time we got up to our landing. We went outside and enjoyed our views from up here. We were in and on the freaking Statue of Liberty! I couldn't believe I was here! The first time I learned about the Statue of Liberty is when I was a small child watching An American Tail (1986) when the pigeons take the mice and the cat and fly around the State of Liberty just after it was completed. I was like, I wanna go there some day! Well, here we were, soaking in all the freedom and history.
It wasn't the best view of the statue because of the angle you were at, but it gave spectacular views of the Upper Bay, Ellis Island, lower Manhattan and the surrounding areas such as New Jersey and Brooklyn. You mostly paid for a view and to actually touch The Statue of Liberty. Both Mom and I took several photos from the 360-degree view and after about a half hour we called it good.
We walked back down the stairs, took some more pictures from the platform base and then went down where everyone else was at the bottom of the sidewalk to take a few more from that angle.
We walked back to the ferry, after I grabbed a brochure from the visitor's center, so we could get on the next ferry to Ellis Island. People were very pushy getting on and off the ferries. Don't people know that we are all going to the same place? We got on and stayed in the lower deck again since this boat ride was a short one to Ellis Island. After about 10-15 minutes later, we were docked up against Ellis Island waiting to get off the boat. This too, was surreal. This was a place I've read about and watched documentaries on while growing up. I was excited when I stepped off the ferry and onto the island.
Hundreds of thousands of people started their American lives here, including my great great great grandfather and his brothers, on my Mom's side. This is also where the Titanic was supposed to stop but they never made it...well, the survivors were taken here. We went into the building, and I was in awe. We went to the area of the building where we could look up potential family members who came over and was processed at Ellis Island. I tried finding my great great great grandfather, but we couldn't find them in the directory because "Edminster" was altered, and Mom couldn't remember how it was originally spelled.
We went into the room that explained how one becomes a US citizen. Some of the questions that you had to answer when you had to take your US citizen exam, I wouldn't be able to answer without studying. I knew a lot of them but when you don't hear or talk about some of these other items, they are easily forgotten. We walked through a couple of the other displays, went to the gift shop, used the restroom and then went back outside to get back on the ferry to Battery Park. We had a 1:00 p.m. reservation at the 9/11 Museum and Memorial and wanted to be back on Manhattan at least around noon.
We got on the ferry and stayed on the lower deck. I wanted to make sure we were able to get off the ferry as quickly as possible because I had no idea how long it was going to take to walk to the 9/11 plaza. We got back to Battery Park just a little bit past noon. From there, I looked at my phone to see how many blocks we had to walk, and it was about four city blocks north of the park. Along the way, we saw the Battery Tunnel monumental ventilation building. It is a tolled tunnel in New York City that connects Red Hook in Brooklyn to Battery Park in Manhattan. The tunnel consists of twin tubes that carry two traffic lanes under the mouth of the East River. It is the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in North America. I remember seeing this on Men in Black (1997) when I was in middle school.
As we started walking up towards the museum and memorial, I recognized some of the streets (Church, Cortlandt, Trinity Pl, Vesey and West) from various documentaries and newscasts over the years. This area was so much smaller than it appeared on television. The area the Twin Towers were located in, isn't very big. How in the world did they get that many people in and out of there that day? I couldn't believe I was actually here. It's been 20 years, 7 months and 25 days since September 11, 2001. Since then, I have seen so many documentaries, YouTube videos and pictures, have read several books and news articles, I have been to the United 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania and have driven past the Pentagon. I have been disappointed since then with how the NYC skyline isn't iconic anymore. It wasn't the dramatic skyline I've always wanted to see. I really wanted to go into the Twin Towers ever since I was a little kid and have that experience. I knew I was never going to be able to see them until I was an adult and could make some money so I could travel.
That bucket list was ruined on 9/11 when the two planes destroyed them. I was also destroyed. However, not as destroyed who had lost loved ones that day. To this day I still don't know of anyone who died on that day personally. I do know of someone who was supposed to be on one of those planes that day, that crashed into the WTC's. He turned out to be one of my leadership studies professors I had in college, and he was very thankful for his decision not to get on the plane that day.
The address I had on my phone was for the other 9/11 museum that was closed that day, so we walked further up the street as we got closer to where the Twin Towers once stood. We saw the entrance to the actual 9/11 Museum, but we were early. I walked over to the donation kiosk because I wanted a bracelet. I donated the money I took out of the traditional cache I found in Central Park. We looked at some of the souvenir books near the kiosk while we wasted a little bit of time.
At 12:30, we got in line and the lady told us we could go in earlier. We were about a half hour ahead of our schedule. I pulled up our tickets and at the door and scanned them. The Museum tells the story of 9/11 through media, narratives and the collection of monumental and authentic artifacts, presenting visitors with personal stories of loss, recovery and hope. It is a non-profit that relies on the generous support of the public and donors to further the mission. The museum is 110,000 square feet with rotating exhibits and displays that shares the stories of 9/11 through artifacts, imagery, personal stories and interactive technology. It shares historical records on the 1993 bombing as well as 9/11.
- Survivor's Staircase
- History (building to destruction)
- Slurry Wall
- The Last Column (5/30/2002)
- Victims Memoriam (2,977 plus the 6 in the 1993 bombing)
- Events of the day
- K9 Courage (rescue dogs)
- Intact window
- Bin Ladin's capture
- Artifact collections and photographs
- Documentaries and videos
I spent most of my time looking at the artifacts. I was interested on the actual pieces of real-life items people owned and used, the pieces of the buildings and other items such as the planes, the rescue vehicles and stuff recovered somewhat intact from the buildings. I've seen most of the documentaries and short videos they were playing. As we went from display to display, I had a really hard time fathoming that I was once where the buildings stood, where they
collapsed along with many office and rescue workers who lost their lives. I watched it from my house that morning and then later on when we were at school...for most of the day. It was so unbelievable; it was hard to imagine how much changed on that day and how different lower Manhattan is now.
I've never been to lower Manhattan before 9/11 so I had no idea what it looked like before coming here this week. I've seen pictures and videos of what the area looked like but if you weren't actually there that day, you have no idea how awful it was. We ended up talking to a lady named Diane, who was a volunteer at the 9/11 Memorial (she also volunteers at the aquarium in Coney Island), while we were downstairs looking at the debris, vehicles and other artifacts. She told us about the slurry wall. The conversation then morphed into the day and where we were. I asked her where she was. She said she lives in Brooklyn and was at home getting her kids ready for school. Her husband was almost going to be in the WTC but didn't for some reason. She remembers that day being so chaotic, her beloved skyline disappearing and the acrid smell that lasted for weeks after they came down. She wanted to volunteer once the Museum and Memorial opened, her husband has come once, and she said her children will NOT come to the museum or memorial. They say it's too painful. She added, there are a lot of people who won't and I don't blame them. Without the towers, it literally changed the skyline and the overall feeling of lower Manhattan.
After about a 40-minute conversation, we thanked her and continued through the exhibits. This is one of the reasons why I came here, to talk to the people who lived in NYC and ask them their stories on 9/11. I saw as much as there was to see and went back upstairs to check out the gift shop. Mom and I don't mind spending money at museums like these because our purchases/donations keep these non-profits/volunteer-based museums open. Mom and I each found a couple things to take home with us. We left and went out to give our respects to the victims at the memorial outside, both the north and south tower. We did the virtual cache, Reflection (GC7BA4H), saw the survivor tree,
the Sphere (which was rescued from the collapse) in
Liberty Park and took everything in. It was a very sombering experience and had wished I would have made it to NYC before September 11, 2001.
We walked across the street to see the
Oculus, which is a transportation hub, full of retailers, farmer's markets, exhibits and musical entertainment. It has a unique architectural design. The structure's white metal-clad steel ribs reach up and out in a monumental move symbolic of a hand releasing a dove. The structure's orientation serves as a lasting reminder of the attacks of September 11, 2001. It is in alignment with the sun's solar angles on each September 11, from 8:46 a.m., when the first plane struck, until 10:28 a.m., when the second tower collapsed. Its central skylight fits this alignment and washes the Oculus floor with a beam of light, aka "The Way of Light."
We walked down Vesey and Church Street and stopped by the
St. Paul's Chapel just to explore the grounds. This chapel is known as the "
The Little Chapel that Stood" because it suffered no damage when the towers fell. Mom took a few pictures of the church and graveyard because it was historical, and it was fun to see how the architecture withstood centuries of weathering, erosion and 9/11.
We were on Broadway, got onto Liberty, then Nassau and made our way to Wall Street. Mom wanted to see the Financial District. We were also trying to find the Fearless Girl statue, but I couldn't find a definitive location on my phone. She used to stand in front of the bull. I found out later she was in front of the NYSE. Mom took several photos and thought the Financial District in NYC would be different. She pictured clean, white buildings in a sophisticated area of NYC. The Financial District had some questionable areas that we walked through. I asked Mom if she had plenty of Wall Street and she said yes. I asked her where she wanted to go next, she said we could go back to Battery Park to finish that Adventure Lab. We walked through Bowling Green, saw the bull, grabbed Re-Charge! (GC5HGR3) and took a few more pictures of some of the buildings along the way.
I wanted to do the National Monuments Virtual Cache (GC7B8K3) when we got back to Battery Park. We did that cache first. The cache has been altered because of the security tent to go to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island so I did the best I could. I had to point to all of the parks in my photo. I figured I'd point to the statue, have Governor's Island in the picture and I was in Battery Park so I got all three in. Then we finished the Aventure Lab, A Walking Tour of Battery Park, all of the waypoints were memorials or statues. The most interesting one was the American Merchant Mariners Memorial.
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I asked Mom what we should do next, and she said I want to get on the subway and got to Brooklyn to see DUMBO and walk the Brooklyn Bridge. I looked up the nearest subway entrance and we walked back up the Financial District to get on the blue C line train. We got on, realized we were under the East River through part of the trip and got off at Cadman Plaza. Our next adventure was to figure out how to get to DUMBO and the street that Mom wanted to see. We had to find a way under the highway and then we followed Washington Street to Front Street. There was Mom's shot of the Empire State Building within the Manhattan Bridge. We stayed for about a half hour and we were also able to sit for a minute, my feet were so tired, while I got my battery pack out to charge my phone. We used my phone for navigating the city and you all know how much that drains your battery.
We walked back up to Cadman Plaza so we could find the pedestrian walkway that took us across the Brooklyn Bridge. I was hoping it would have some sort of signage, but it didn't...you were just expected to know where to go. I looked up some directions on my phone, but they weren't very clear. We ended up following them anyway. From Cadman Plaza we had to walk to Tillary and then follow that to Adams.
When we got to Adams, Mom asked a cop nearby if we were going the correct way and he said yes. We thanked him for the information and walked along the pedestrian trail in the middle of the two sides of the road.
Mom and I walked from Brooklyn to Manhattan across the
Brooklyn Bridge. This is another bucket list item Mom wanted to do while we were here. The Brooklyn Bridge was built between the years of 1869-1883 and opened May 24, 1883. This year makes it 139 years old. The bridge spans 1.14 miles. I've always been told if I ever made it to NYC that I had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Well, here we were, walking across it on a mild evening. It was a really nice stroll even though our feet were so tired. There were a lot of people coming to and from Manhattan.
Some were walking, some were jogging, walking their dogs and others were riding their bikes. As we got closer to the other side, there were many street vendors, at the end of the bridge, selling souvenirs to anyone who would buy them. You could get a whole handful of keychains for like a dollar.
We got off the bridge and Mom exclaimed that she had to buy a soft pretzel from a NYC street food cart vendor. Yes, she made me take a picture of her doing it. Soft pretzels are pretty salty for my taste, but we were able to brush most of it off.
We walked through the City Hall block, up Broadway and onto Moore in the Tribeca neighborhood. We both wanted to go see the
Ghostbusters HQ aka Hook and Ladder 8 and it was a virtual cache.
When we got there, the bay was open and there was a huge group of people from a foreign country insisting that they get photos of the building, the firefighters, the fire station, etc. They were there for a while, we stood off to the side and waited our turn. Once they left, we got a picture of us with the fire station to fulfill the virtual cache, The Real Ghostbusters (GC9P70C).
Mom chatted with the fire fighters and asked if they were entertained with the amount of people that come by every day. He said, it makes the day interesting, that's for sure, as he smiled. Mom asked if they had anything to sell and he said he had all sorts of stuff, but the T-shirts were low and had to be reordered. He said we could go on their website to get a T-shirt when they come in and gave us the website. I bought a patch and a challenge coin for Ben. We thanked them and did the rest of the
Ghostbuster caches that were available. Those included a letterbox and a mystery cache, Who Ya Gonna Call? (GC8330N) and We're Ready to Believe You! Ghost Challenge (GC8332D). The fourth one of this series, a traditional, I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost! (GC6KB8Y) was disabled during the time we were in NYC.
At this point, we did everything we were supposed to do on our list, our feet were beyond tired, and we were getting hungry, so we decided to head back uptown towards our hotel. We walked the few blocks to one of the subway entrances, dumped off the rest of our pretzel in a bum's grocery cart, found the subway we needed and took the blue ACE line and got off at the Port Authority stop. We saw a 7-Eleven and went inside and bought some bananas for tomorrow, a bag of chips because they sounded good, Coke Zero and some more water. It was weird to go inside of a tiny 7-Eleven with security guards inside.
On the next street over, I saw another souvenir store, City Gifts and Souvenirs, popped in really fast to pick up a few more things. I was still looking for that elusive Friends gift that seemed to still be really hard to find. Mom did find one of those Funko Pop collectables and I had to get it even though, I could find it cheaper online when I got home. However, this is from NYC, and I would have to take a picture of it in NYC, frame it and give it to Amy for her birthday. I would have to do that tomorrow morning when we left. I paid for my stuff, and we continued on.
About a block further, I asked Mom if she just wanted Shake Shack for dinner since it was right there, and we could just take it back to our hotel room. She said sure. We were going to try this a few years ago in Seattle but didn't, why not now? We got two burgers, two fries and two strawberry milkshakes, walked the two blocks to our hotel, up the elevator, I immediately took my shoes off and we relaxed on the bed, eating our food and watching the Celtics beat the Nets. Sports are on way too late on the east coast.
I got in a shower, got into my jammies, talked to Ben for a little bit, laid in bed and posted pictures on Facebook. We went to bed around 11 p.m. The next day was going to be a long day.
Next Adventure: NYC-DC-PA Vacation: Leaving NYC, Coney Island, Sandy Hook, Jersey Shore and Atlantic City
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