September 12 - Seems Appropriate

This post has been sitting in the pile of posts that need editing.

Originally this post was entitled: Downtown With Julie Brown but it seems more appropriate to just name it September 12.

This is a long post... I apologize.

There's this side of me that can't really look at much of anything that deals with September 11 without feeling so unbelievably overwhelmed with emotion.  I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. 

And truthfully, I hope I always feel these emotions.

I wasn't sure what we were going to do exactly but I knew that I wanted the kids to spend some time Downtown.  We started our journey in Chatham, had lunch in Hoboken, and took the PATH to the World Financial Center.

Jenna was the photographer and I am choosing the best picture out of 4.
Yes, I know my eyes are closed.

When you get out of the PATH terminal you are standing in the middle of a construction zone.  

You can't help but to look up.  The area is an obvious attraction for tourists.  

 It's an amazing site and it's slightly overwhelming to spend too much there in thought.

 They are working on the towers 24-hours a day, seven days a week. 

The construction area is 16-acres and the pictures really minimize the enormity of this tower.  They are building, on average, two floors every ten days.

A block or two from the World Trade Center Site is this memorial for the survivors of September 11th.

It's in between Ground Zero, Moody's and the Federal Post Office.

This bench surrounds the fountain.

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From the Federal Reserve we walked over to St. Paul's Chapel.  Built in 1766, this is Manhattan's oldest building that has been in continuous use.  George Washington worshipped at this church.

There is a bell that sits in between the chapel and the grave yard.  It's called the "Bell of Hope."

It's a gift from the city of London to the city of New York.  It symbolizes the empathy and solidarity that London and New York have for each other.

The bell was cast by the same foundry who built the Liberty Bell and Big Ben.

This is the view from the church grounds, looking at the World Trade Center.

The Bell of Hope

Trinity Church is another amazing church that sits quietly in lower Manhattan.

The first congregation met here in 1698.

A few blocks from the Trinity Church sits the New York Stock Exchange.

Looking from the NYSE toward Trinity Church

This statue of George Washington sits outside of Federal Hall.

On a busy day you need to wait in line to get your picture taken here.

This is the building where George Washington took his oath of office as our First President.

At the end of Wall Street, toward the East River, is another memorial.

This beautiful fountain is for the employees of Deutsche Bank who died on September 11.

This fountain is made of a beautiful green glass.

This fountain sits outside of the First Police Precinct.

We actually sat at this fountain for a few minutes trying to figure out where we were. 

 We were supposed to be at the Police Station but we couldn't find it.

Alec asked a security guard on Old Slip where the First Police Precinct was.  We couldn't help but to be a little surprised when she pointed to the building we were sitting next to.  The building is being renovated so it had scaffolding and netting all around it.  It did not look like a police station.

The first police station is now a New York City Police Museum.

It has motorcycles, cars, vintage uniforms, vintage weapons, an authentic jail cell, a bullet-proof vest you can try on.  It's a small museum but it's very cool.

As the adult of the group, I was told when we entered the museum that the third floor was the September 11th floor and that there were parts of that floor that could be inappropriate for the kids.

Alec, Jenna, and Heath sat on this bench watching a video about the security in New York City and how September 11th has made this city one of the safest cities in the United States.

Ammon, Alec and I went into the 9/11 Remembered room.

I was flooded with emotion and I couldn't hardly breath.

I couldn't stay very long.  So I didn't.

On this same floor was the Hall of Heroes.

The room was covered in the badges of the NYPD officers who had lost their lives in the line of duty since 1845.

After spending some time in the NYPD gift shop we headed outside for some more Manhattan.

The Elevated Acre is another unexpected place we happened upon because of Alec's navigational skills.

This is really in Lower Manhattan off of Water Street by Old Slip.

As the name infers, this is an acre of land that sits two flights of stairs above the ground.

The acre is an amazing area filled with flowers, grass, and trees.  The view is of the East River.  To the left is the Brooklyn Bridge and to the right are helipads.

We hung out here on a bench until it started to rain on us again.

From the Elevated Acre we need to make our way through the Financial District over to Battery Park.

Oh, look! It's trash day in New York.

With Alec as our navigator, we made our way to Broadway and Maiden looking for a really old clock.

Well, we really had no idea what kind of clock we were looking for.  So we spent a few minutes on the corner looking up at every building.  It wasn't until we crossed the street, ready to give up on the clock, when we realized we were standing right by the clock.  Actually, standing on the clock.

William Bartham was a jeweler and for some reason this clock is built into the sidewalk.

It keeps time and it's really cool.

At this point in our day we were getting really wet.  As you can see by the time, we needed to head back over to the financial center to get Scott.

This is the American Express memorial located in the lobby of Tower 2.  It's a 600-pound Brazilian Quartz suspended by wires.  The memorial is called, "Eleven Tears," for the eleven Amex employees who died.  The names of the employees and special things are written on the bottom of the pool.

 "Tears" randomly drop into the pool.

It's such a peaceful and beautiful memorial.

After being in the Amex lobby we made our way into the Winter Garden.

I let Scott know where we were by texting him a picture of the Gelato.

He finished up with work and met us outside.

This is the view of Ground Zero from inside the Winter Garden.

With Scott in hand we were ready to do a little more exploring and then head home.

This is a really cool piece of art that also tells you what the weather will be on the following day.

Overlooking the Hudson.  It started to rain again.

The Winter Garden really sits in between tower 2 and tower 4 of the WFC.
This is the outside of the garden.

This is the view from outside the WFC.

Our final memorial visit for the day was to the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park.  This memorial over looks the Hudson River and sits in the middle of office buildings and apartment buildings on Vesey Street. 

It's a memorial honoring the one and a half million Irish who died in the famine of 1845-1852.  Did I know anything about an Irish famine?  No, I had no clue.  But now I know a little more than I did before.  The memorial is interesting because you walk through a blackened tunnel that is lined with text from Irish recipes, songs, and memoirs.  This is a half-acre memorial containing all things Irish.  Irish flowers, potatoes, stones from each of Ireland's 32 counties (didn't know there were only 32 counties in Ireland), fossils from an ancient Irish seabed, and plants that originate from Ireland.

After walking through the tunnel you walk up into the day light, onto a winding path.
I assume this looks like an Irish countryside. 

This is the view from North End Avenue.

Looking from the hill onto Vesey Street

From Vesey Street we made our way back to the PATH.  We had a little problem getting through with our transit ticket.  It had zero dollars left on it.  So, with four of us on one side and Jenna and I on the other I put some more money on the ticket.  At this time of day we were a reminder to all the commuters that they needed to get home to their families.  The terminal was crowded.  

Back at the turnstile, a PATH attendant noticed our frustration when our re-filled ticket wasn't working.  He came over and inquired about our problem.  He looked at our numbers and said, "The ticket won't let you slide it more than four times at each station,"  I looked at him and said, "What should we do because part of us are over there?"  He looked back at me and said, "Just smile at me and walk through!"  So, I told him that I really liked his shirt... Jenna and I smiled and walked on through.

New Yorkers are seriously some of the kindest people on the planet.

We ended our day with a view of the Empire State Building.

I found myself with tears in my eyes several times on this day.

September 11, 2001... not a day I want to remember but a day I'll never forget.

My phone rang early in the morning.  I was getting ready for the day and to take Ammon to school.

On the other end of the phone was a dear friend of mine.

She told me to turn on the television but to make sure the kids weren't in the room.

I kept Ammon home from school that day.

I never wanted to let my children out of my sight and

I didn't want them to know the world was such a cruel place.

Memorials are to honor those who have died and strengthen those left behind. 

There was a certain peace I felt walking around Downtown with the kids because every where I looked there was a memorial, a tribute to those who so tragically lost their lives.

I'm grateful for New Yorkers. 

I'm grateful for their powerful energy and their unyielding spirit to rebuild this beautiful city.