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| I LOVE this girl! She was a trooper because we made her take lots of pictures so she could remember the trip. :) |
Bo and I have talked about taking the kids on a trip when they turned twelve. He had some Sky Miles burning a hole in his pocket and a few weeks ago he decided we'd better take Hailey somewhere since she turned twelve a couple of months ago. She didn't have a particular place she wanted to visit so we decided take her to NYC. We thought it would be fun for to see New York at Christmas. Thanks so much to my parents who watched the kids so we could all go together! We had a great time!
After an 8 hour layover in Salt Lake (our entire flight was only suppose to be 6 hours start to finish), a red eye flight, and an hour and a half taxi ride we made it to the Roosevelt Hotel on 45th and Madison. It had a great Christmas atmosphere and was close to Rockefeller Center and Time Square which made it easy to walk and see a lot. Everywhere I looked and all activities we chose to do reminded me that when people work together on a great cause wonderful outcomes result. I love visiting New York. It's such and amazing city at the heart of our nations birth. It was built on blood, sweat, and tears!
One of my favorite things in the whole world is walking through big cities block by block. I think about all the time, energy and fearless men it took to build such spectacular skyscrapers, especially 100+ years ago. All the detail and fine workmanship used is mind boggling. Hailey wasn't especially impressed by that or by all of the other people we had to share the city with. I think it overwhelmed her a bit. But she did have a great time.
Her favorite part was going to "Wicked". This musical was better than we anticipated and we were excited to see it. We loved the story and the cast did an excellent job.
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| Bo didn't get to sit with us. We bought his ticket separately. :( |
Hailey's other favorite activity was the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The planners and those who built this museum did such a great job telling the story while showing respect to those who lost their lives or were affected and forever changed by this horrible attack.
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| One World Trade Center |
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| First part of Museum. Cement post was taken from the area. People painted on it to show how many people had died. |
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| Old New York Skyline |
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| Day of the attack. :( |
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| Original steel in foundation |
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| Where first plane hit the World Trade Center |
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| Picture of firetruck (below) at ground zero |
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| Pic of Hailey in front of the retaining wall. It is the original wall for the underground levels. It keeps the water out. |
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| Bent steel, I can't imagine the pressure it took to bend and break that. |
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| Fountain outside of the museum |
We also went to the American Museum of Natural History. I'm pretty sure you could spend a couple days there. We mostly spent time in the dinosaur museum.
We also walked through part of Central Park, Time Square, went to the Top of Rockefeller Center, rode the subway, looked at the Statue of Liberty from a distance, and walked through the financial district, ate pizza, and walked through Grande Central Station. Considering we were there for just two days, we were able to see a lot. Here are some pics!
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| Hailey on the subway, exhausted from our crazy flight. |
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| Us on a very crowded subway. |
Top and Bottom of the Rock
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| Look at all those people! |
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| The ice skating rink by Rockefeller Center |
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| Right under the tree |
Time Square
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| The Light the World ad for the Christmas season was played about every other ad at Time Square. How Cool!!! |
Other Random Pictures
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| Had to get a pic of President Elect Trump's Casa |
Central Park
My favorite part of the trip was the Memorial. At the museum there was a big area that we weren't allowed to take pictures. Of course, it was the best part of the museum but it would have taken away from the atmosphere in there. They had recordings of 911 dispatchers, police officer, firemen, and peoples messages left to loved ones amidst all the chaos. The part that touched me the most was in an area dedicated to those that crashed the plane into the field in Pennsylvania. I learned that those on the plane knew that the twin towers had been hit and wanted to prevent another huge catastrophe. So, they chose to overtake the hijackers no matter the outcome.
A video played out the timeline of the short flight with different recordings. The part that really pulled my heartstrings was when they played a few answering machine messages left by those on the plane. They told their loved ones that they loved them and that said they hoped they would see them again but they weren't sure what was going to happen. I can't imagine the fear that they felt but those people sounded so strong for their loved ones on the messages they left.
I couldn't quit thinking about all of the people affected personally who woke up the morning of September 11. They were normal people going about on a normal day, but when faced with fear and tragedy so many became heroes as they did all they could to save the lives of others. It made me wonder how I would have reacted. What would I have done? I'm not sure I'd have the strength to run into the chaos and put everything on the line. Those men and women who did all they could and even lost their lives in service to others deserve our utmost respect and remembrance.
We must never forget those 2,996 men, women, and children who needlessly lost their lives that day because of pure evil and hatred in the hearts of men who sought to follow darkness instead of the light of the world.
