New York - Friday with Will

Will had a short conference day on Friday so we were able to have lunch and spend the day together.  We didn't plan it, but we were in New York during the few days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11 so we knew we needed to go to Ground Zero.

As we approached the former site of the World Trade Center, we saw thousands and thousands of white ribbons tied to fences, trees, gates, bushes and sign posts.  Some of them had notes written to the victims of that day and their families.  Others had general prayers for peace.

St. Paul's Chapel is right across the street from where the twin towers stood.  Being in that space was pretty emotional; I can't imagine the fear and confusion they all must have felt when those planes hit and the towers eventually fell.

NY Firehouse 10 is also across the street from the site.  This is the firehouse that lost 343 firefighters that day.  On the right hand side of this picture, you can see the start of the Memorial Wall ...

Will and I had lunch a a pizza place right around the corner from Firehouse 10.  As we ate, we overheard a couple of guys come in talking about how one of them was trapped in the pizza joint that day as the planes hit and towers fell.

One World Trade Center (I think they're also calling this Freedom Tower) is still under construction.  We were not able to see the Memorial and Museum because they were not open to the public yet.  It was just so powerful to be in that space.

After lunch, we walked all the way around the WTC site and found the riverwalk along the Hudson River.  We caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty as we made our way toward the Meatpacking District.

We finally made it to Times Square and the TKTS line to see what our options for a night on Broadway might be.  We were lucky enough to be there in time for the Broadway on Broadway tribute to 9/11.  Apparently, on September 9, 2001, just two days before 9/11, Broadway actors took to Times Square to kick-off the start of the Broadway season.

Daniel Rodriguez, the Singing Policeman, sang God Bless America ... and brought me to tears right in the middle of Times Square!

We ended up getting tickets to Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark.  We had hoped to see Wicked, but apparently, it's still popular enough that the tickets sell out on their own.  Spiderman was good, but I kept thinking how much McIver would have loved it.   We walked through Times Square on our way back to the hotel... I thought it was past Elmo's bedtime, but he seemed to be going strong!