Today, we went to the 911 memorial. It was well done and bigger than we had expected. It is free but you have to have a ticket to get in. So, our advice is to reserve a time at least the day before. Otherwise, you have to get in line to get a ticket. They are timed to prevent too many people at the site. Also, plan on about a half hour of standing in line and going through security. But, once you are in, there is plenty of room to see all you want to see and nobody moves you out.
One of the two pools that are on the footprint of the two towers.
Jesse and Naomi in front of one of the pools. World Trade Center One is in the background.
After that, Naomi and Jessie wanted to take the ship to Liberty Island and Ellis Island, so we walked down to Battery Park. Directly across from Battery Park, is the entrance to the Battery-Brooklyn Tunnel. The building that covers this entrance is the building you see in Men In Black for the headquarters. Of course, they take most of the signage and trees out of the picture when they use it in the film.
The Men in Black building.
After Naomi and Jesse left on their cruse, Sally and I went home.
That evening, Sally was scheduled to help serve dinners to the homeless. Naomi, Jesse and I went to see "Fried Chicken and Latkes" at the Actor's Temple Theater. This was a one woman play by Rain Pryor. She is the daughter of Richard Pryor. It was a monologue about growing up black and Jewish. He mother was Jewish. The best parts were when she played the part of her two grandmothers. It was pretty funny and very entertaining.
The theater is a Jewish temple. They move the worship materials to the back of the room and put up chairs for the theater. There is a stage at the front of the theater. I seats about 100 people.
They had a pretty good jazz trio playing before Ms. Pryor started. It was frustrating that many people in the audience kept talking while the trio was performing. I have noticed this at other performances where there is a headliner and warm up acts. Because it is not the headliner or the main play, people seem to feel that the show has not started and they can keep talking. We had this same problem when we went to see "One Man and Two Guvnors" It would be nice if people had some courtesy and shut up. It is not required that you keep talking once you take your seat.
Anyway, the performance was enjoyable. Naomi particularly like the Jewish grandmother.
The outside of the theater.
After the play, we went to the Brooklyn end of the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked across the bridge to Manhattan. I recommend this to anybody coming to New York. It is a wonderful view of Manhattan. It is good during the day, but spectacular at night.
Naomi and Jesse on the Brooklyn Bridge. The Empire State Building is in the background.
On the way home, we stopped at the Apple store. This store is open 24-7, so it was okay that we didn't get there until 11 PM. The store was very busy anyway. Naomi is going to Kuwait in a couple of weeks to teach at an American school. She had questions about the use of her computer and of Facetime and Skype in Kuwait. By chance, the clerk who helped her was from Egypt and her parents lived in Kuwait. She was able to answer all of her questions. Naomi had talked to the people at the Mall of America Apple store, and they could not help her. So, it was good that we stopped.
This is the entrance to the Apple Store. The store itself is below ground, down the steps that you can see to the left of Jesse.
Sally's Day
Al has given you a good overview of our day. Many people have asked if we have visited the 911 Memorial. Therefore, I will add a few more pictures. The Memorial is in the middle of the construction site of the new Towers. Once they are completed, the Memorial will be an open park, and no tickets will be required. There will also be an underground museum. The Memorial includes both the 1993 bombing and the 9/11/01 attack.
Another view of the pool built on the site of the South Tower.
Each of the pools is surrounded by inscriptions of names of the people who died. The names are grouped by the location of their deaths. This section is for Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.
Todd Beamer, who was on flight 93, is remembered as the man who spoke with a phone operator after the terrorists took control of the plane. The last words heard from him were "Let's roll." The passengers were then heard rushing forward to the cockpit.
Renee May was also on Flight 93. Her inscription states " and her unborn child."
The Memorial is a very quiet place.
Sally
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