Friday, Aug 1

Left Atlantic City in time to get to New York City and see the 911 Memorial.  We have previously spent a lot of time in the city so the only thing we wanted to do was to see the Memorial.  The last time we were here the Twin Towers were still here.  It took a while to find parking because there was a concert in the middle of the city and numerous blocks were cut off.  As we approached the area we observed the new Liberty Tower which is taller than either of the Twin Towers.  It is nearly complete but not open for business yet.  The two twin fountains are on the lawn of the memorial.  One is exactly where the south tower was located and one is where the north tower was located.  Around the fountains were engraved the names of the victims.  There were places by each name for a flower on the date of that victim’s birthday.  Several had flowers. 

We toured the museum and there were several very impressive things.  One very impressive thing was the “survivor steps.”  These were the steps that were used by hundreds of people to evacuate the building. 

Probably the most impressive thing was a quilt that was made by volunteers from all over the U.S.  It had beautiful sayings as well as pictures of all victims. 

As we left we realized we spent more time than we estimated and it put us in the work traffic leaving the city on Friday afternoon.  It took 2 hours to go 7 miles!  No way could I live in that situation.  We talked to Stacey and learned that Brooks had hockey camp today.  She sent a letter of him dressed in more clothes than he would ever wear at one time.  She said he had a good time and really adjusted quickly with the help of the camp organizer.