When the Traveler meets the Tourists

Day Two:

Well, it was yesterday, but I can say that it was a nice "not too much" kind of day.

Left to Right: me, Jenn, and Aunt Tam

Aunt Tam and I went out and caught Jenn, a friend of hers and began a sort of walking tour of the city. When I was seven years old, my dad took me to the city and showed me the Twin Towers standing tall over the financial district of New York. Since then, I have never even been that far south in Manhattan. I wanted to see Ground Zero, and Tam and Jenn had never even been down there, so I was their excuse to be tourists for a day.

We got the free tickets to the memorial site and went out to walk around Financial. We checked out Battery Park (which is home to the only memory I have as a child from that visit in NYC, and from where I first saw the Twin Towers and Lady Liberty) and scrapped around talking about stuff.

the view of Lady Liberty from my memory

When our entry time slot came in, we headed over to the memorial and got escorted through an airport security style shake-down. Finally, however, we were allowed in.

The design of the memorial and the replacement tower is certainly at a level of some controversy. Personally, I can agree with many people that the tower is rather sub-par in comparison to the towers that once stood. It has a slightly interesting design, but it's nothing special and adds nothing to the sight. The reflecting pools, on the other hand, I really like.
The design is set around the foundations, of course, and although the idea has a bit of an eerie nature to it, I love the fountain pools that kind of cascade forever. It sounds so peaceful and special there, and the feeling of the cool breeze from the water on the warm day was divine.

As I walked around, I dragged my fingers across each name and suddenly something strange came over me. I started trying to go back and to picture these people, feel them, know them across the iron and the time and the tragedy. Who was Mary... Richard... Michael... Dewaine... Timothy... Suzanne... Erica...? I didn't know and never could...or could I? I don't know. I then did something else. I started seeing them as their families and friends and children and parents saw them, like gravestones and funeral flowers and names on a memorial. I closed my eyes and sighed.

For lunch, we ran off to Little Italy and dined at an...okay...Italian restaurant called La Mela. Dinner seems to make it a happenin' joint, but skip it for lunch. Just nothing special.
We did, however, pick up another friend, Heathe, and headed back to the apartment for a brief respite before traipsing off again.

Heathe was the only one of us who had ever walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, so we all went off to do a walking tour of the Bridge and the Brooklyn waterfront promenade.

On the way, I had fun talking and exploring with Jenn. Tammy said that she met her as a bit of a kindred spirit, and I found the same thing. She was funny, determined, and curious, so we hung back and experienced everything while Tammy and Heathe got their New York march on. The Bridge was nice if crowded and the promenade was lovely. I'd have to say that if ever I lived in New York, I think I would choose Brooklyn as my neighborhood. It may be happenin' in Manhattan, but it is beautiful in Brooklyn.

We came back totally worn out from the walk and had dinner at 7A before saluting one another and heading home.

I'm Jonathon and this is my life.