Day 19 - NYC The City That Never Sleeps

Day 19 - NYC - Monday, September 8, 2014

This campsite is certainly different than any other I have encountered! This is on gravel and concrete with not a tree in sight. There are boats moving through to dry storage all the time, and the RVs are huge mansions on wheels. 

Cooking Dinner and Writing Stories

Eating Breakfast While  Boys Get Laundry

Quite early in the day a couple dropped in to see us. They were from Germany and the lady said she had some clothes that might fit Ayana, and since her wardrobe was bigger than her closet, it was time to leave some behind. She then asked if I liked to read, and when she heard that I did, she offered up two books. This was a very kind couple and the following morning she also dropped off a Metrocard loaded with $26!

The Kind Samaritans Did Not Want Their Faces on Facebook, so Allowed Photos of Their Feet

As Good a Place As Any to Read!

Our Crowded Quarters

Getting our van fixed and paid for was not as easy as we thought. We were blessed in that the owner of the garage got our van booked in the day after my blow-out. When the mechanic called me on Monday morning, he said he planned to order the new transmission that morning, expected it to arrive by Wednesday or Thursday, and hoped to have it repaired by Friday or early next week. When I spoke to him about payment, he told me the boss would not accept anything but cash. Okay, where do you get $3400 cash? 

This ended up involving phone calls to our bank, loans from our credit company, and then multiple - did I say Multiple - trips to the bank machines around the neighbourhood. Some of them would not dispense more than $120, and do you know how many $120s are in $3400!!!

I put two machines out of use before I figured out how to get my money!

Our first major stop was the World Trade Centre Memorial. 

This man saw the Framer's Jamaica shirt and commented. Of course, we had to tell him how much we love Jamaica!

This was incredibly profound, and I found it hard to hold it together as we went through the memorial. First we saw the two sites of the original towers. They had been turned into waterfalls - the largest in North America. What was so touching that it brought tears to my throat, was reading that the way the names of the victims were placed on the memorial was not accidental. Each name was very carefully inscribed according to the relationships they had and where they were when the attack took place. Much was done on the request of family members. A beautiful point was that on each birthday of each victim a flower is placed on their name - honoured by the 9/11 Memorial Committee. 

This "Freedom Tree" survived the bombing and has been carefully nourished back to health. It has guide wires as it has now been reintroduced to the streets of Manhattan. From a stump of eight feet to a healthy tree of thirty feet. this tree has been brought back to good health - an emblem of the fortitude the people of New York showed after the World Trade Centre attack.

On each birthday, each person whose name is on the Memorial has a flower placed to commemorate the birthday that they have missed. 

The Tip of the World Trade Centre - Tallest Building in the Country

We then entered the Memorial as told by Survivors, Witnesses, Rescuers, Remembrances. What absolutely floored me was when someone approached us and began speaking. I looked down at his tag, and it said, “Ask my my story.” And at that moment, I knew. I knew that I was seeing someone that had lived. And I asked him his story. He told it from his perspective, and it truly brought tears to my eyes. So profound. It was like meeting a ghost as he recounted his day, and shared how the father of a girl in his daughter’s grade 3 class had worked at the tower with his wife. That day they had gone to work, and like him, because the drop-off of the children at the first day of school had been so seamless, he had been at the tower at the time of the collapse. The man knew all about the construction of the tower, so rather than run from the building, he had broken into rooms through walls and helped people out. He had then told his wife to escort them out of the building. She had done so, and he had stayed behind to continue to save lives. Fifty or sixty people owe their lives to this man. I could not help but have tears rise in my eyes as he shared his day. Our recounter was a lawyer, who was on the way to work and had just got there when he was told to turn around and go back. It was not for a very long time that he would even see what had happened on television, as their TV station was in the World Trade Centre. 

What astounded me was the time it has taken to rebuild the city. Everywhere we went we saw barricaded and broken areas, and he told us these areas were underground electrical wires that were still being reconstructed. He informed us that there was no electricity in the area for two years. They had to use generators! So much information that we as outsiders don’t even have a clue about. I would highly suggest if visiting New York to go to this Memorial and see and understand and appreciate what this day means to Americans, but most especially New Yorkers. 

Seeing the World Trade Centre Memorial hit me harder than Arlington or other memorials I have been to, but I would not trade visiting it for anything. I wanted my children to understand and appreciate why soldiers fight and also, to know what 9/11 is.

From World Trade Centre and all the Memorials that are set up to remember them we headed towards a number of landmarks that were printed on my map.  The first stop was Grand Central Station. I have very fond memories of reading about this train station. It was huge and quite beautiful! 

We continued walking to the New York Library. I would love to have gone in, but sadly when we arrived they were closed for the day. We did take some pictures, but my goal was to go back the following day, but circumstances stopped it from happening. There is a library walk of plaques leading to the library and I took some pictures of some of my favourites. 

Visiting some of the 5th Avenue shops was another free highlight. There is so much to do in New  York that is free!! The one area we spent money was eating. Those food stands on the road are reasonably priced and oh, so delicious!! I reckon a holiday in New York is cheap if you drive your RV and park it here at our site for $90 a night, plus cook your own breakfast and lunch, and then eat out one meal. Then there are so many sights to see that cost nothing. We walked all day for three days and didn’t see everything. Of course, a Broadway show would have been wonderful, and we did contemplate it, but with seven of us, it was just a bit much, not to mention already having to buy the Framer a second airline ticket home, since he had to stay after the van transmission blew up!

$22,000 For the Bracelet on the Right

 We had a fun walk through of the city, falling across the Empire State Building and doing the frugal visit: We took some lovely pictures of the outside at night, and then went in through the beautiful reception area. Madison Square Garden was on our path, along with Lord and Taylors Jewelers, and then we finished our evening with delicious Italian New York Pizza on the side of the road overlooking Fashion Drive. A perfect first day in New York!

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