9/11 Memorial

After loading up on Hershey's chocolate, I headed for New Jersey to see friends that I had worked with in Peoria.  They still work in the same company, but are on assignment in New Jersey.  I stayed with one of them and his family and it was so good to catch up and see their little guy.  He's grown so much! It's so fun to see my friends' kids on this trip and to see their own little personalities developing with traits from mom and dad.  

I had a free day on Thursday and they helped me drop off my car for a long overdue oil change and then catch the train into the big city, New York.  I planned to visit the new 9/11 memorial as the last time I was in NYC was almost 10 years ago and there was still a large hole in the ground.  I heard it took maybe 2-3 hours to do the visit, so I thought also of trying to go to Ellis Island (I think it was closed during my last visit).  Well, I would say plan your time wisely.  I barely got in the memorial before catching the last express train back to NJ before rush hour hits.

I've done lots of trains outside the US, but I still get a little nervous making sure I get the train right when I'm in the US.  I think I feel pressure because people don't know (well, they probably do) that I'm a tourist since I'm American.  Therefore, I should know what to do.  Maybe that's a reason I find it easier to travel abroad - no one would expect me to know anything because I'm clearly not local. :)  This is how my mind thinks sometimes.....anyway.....

The memorial was very moving.  I'm notoriously slow in museums and this was no exception.  I think I arrived late on a Thursday morning and it was raining lightly (by the way, I love my rain jacket).  I was surprised how many people were still there.  Many I believe visiting from other countries.  I suggest to buy a ticket online in advance.  I had to wait in a line (ended up booking on my phone while waiting in line).  I think I got an entrance time for 12:30, which was an hour or more from the time when I purchased it and you can only start lining up half an hour before your entrance time. If it had been a nice day, I'm not sure how long the wait would have been.

Once in, there's a natural flow from one exhibit to the next.  However, there is information on all sides, so you're trying to see everything (or I was).  There is a timeline that moves along one wall and has recordings playing, pictures, videos, etc. that outline the morning of September 11, 2001 and what happened minute by minute.  But if you only follow the timeline on one wall, you'll have to go back later and check out the exhibits on the other wall (note that it isn't super easy to do this other than to turn around and head back into the rooms you just left).  

You can't see it really well, but the picture above has the four flight patterns mapped out and the times highlighted.  This is the first thing you see as you walk through the museum and then you walk into pictures from the day.  

This wall was interesting from an engineering standpoint. When the first World Trade Center was built, they had to figure out how to keep the Hudson River out since it was so close.  They built a slurry wall, like a giant retaining wall, which is preserved from its original state here. There was some worry during 9/11 that the wall would be breached. They must have done a really good job back in 1966 (or thereabouts) because it held.  Had it not, there would have been major flooding and made the catastrophe that much worse.

This is 'the last column'. During clean up, it was designated as the last column and became a symbol to mark the occasion of when the last piece was removed. The messages you see are from recovery workers, first responders, volunteers and victims' relatives and include written words, photographs and other tributes.

This was a huge wall along one of the halls in the museum and is a collection of the sky.  People were asked to create a tile that reflected the color of the sky on 9/11 and they are brought together here.

 
One of the fire trucks that was a first responder and was damaged during the fall of one of the towers.

These were the actual steel beams along the outside of one of the towers which were pierced by one of the planes.  There is a plaque to show you where from the buildings these beams were and they also have the bottom half below to give you an idea of the size of the hole ripped into the building.

This is a close up of one of the steel beams that was welded together. You can see how it was just bent, twisted and torn apart. It's hard to comprehend the power needed to do this.

 Original foundations of the previous beams. You can see the original outlines of both the north and south towers throughout the bottom floor of the museum.

This is a chunk of one of the buildings - they could not determine which one. "Forensic experts identify it as consisting of the compacted and heat-fused remains of approximately five floors." (from the museum plaque) There was no evidence of human remains, but based on what they can tell from the examination, they aren't sure it would be possible to identify any human remains if they did exist. I found it unbelievable that five floors were compacted into this chunk that was maybe half my height.


The museum is underground. Above ground, there are two (what I will call) wells that represent the footprints of each tower. There is water running down in waterfalls along the edge and names of the victims encircle the top of the wells.

This is the Survivor Tree - a pear tree that was severely damaged at Ground Zero, removed, rehabilitated and now returned to its home.

It has come a long way.

Some people had left flags in some names along the wall. The names are cut out of the top layer and there's a gold color underneath that shines through.  I was told at night it is especially moving.

Most everyone visiting was respectful.  It was pretty quiet throughout the museum.  There were rooms where you could listen to the phone calls or voice mails left by people to their loved ones. Or the calls by people made to 911. It really puts things into perspective.  If you're in NYC, allow a good portion of your day and go to visit this memorial and museum.

Chocolate World

After my morning in Gettysburg, I got on the road in the early afternoon and headed east towards NJ to visit some friends.  But what is between Gettysburg and NJ?? Hershey, PA

I couldn't resist a stop at the Hershey factory for a free tour and whatever else they had.  There is a huge amusement park there, but I'm not sure it was open in late September and that wasn't what I was looking for anyway.  I did the free 'tour' in the factory, which felt a little more like getting on a Disney ride.  There were three cows to walk us through the chocolate making process.  Then you're dumped back in the lobby where there are lots and lots of ways to empty your pockets.  Any kind of Hershey product is available....in almost any size.  Then there are stuffed animals/things (i.e. kisses), t-shirts, mugs, all sorts of memorabilia. You can take a picture and have it put on your own bottle of chocolate syrup or make your own candy bar.  I shopped around in the candy and found some items I'd never heard of.  The big purchase was two boxes of 36 candy bars, hershey bars for s'mores and peanut butter cups because it was cheaper to get two than one. It was a fun stop on my way to NJ and I'm sure it's all the rage in the high tourist season of summer.

Welcome

These three ladies help guide the tour,
which starts at the milk barns around Hershey

One of the machines during one of the processes

Totals for the day (shot #1)

And quickly thereafter, the revised totals

Gettysburg

I have been very lazy. I was trying to not get more than a month behind in the blog, yet each day I let it slip farther past due. I've been home this week and will be next. I've learned that being unemployed and at home is not a good mix for me :). I don't do anything. Super slacker. And while I know I should do things, the next day is usually similar to the last. So while I told myself I'd be practically caught up at this point, I am more behind than ever. Clearly my next job will not be as a blogger as it always loses out when up against Netflix :). The one thing I have done --> I have managed to better solidify my itinerary in Europe that starts in less than two weeks. (YAY!) 

Back to late September...

I got to Gettysburg late in the day. The visitor center closed just as I arrived but luckily Google helped me find a map to follow and drive through the battlefield while I still had some sun. 

Gettysburg was a much, much larger battle than Antietam. While I followed the posted markers, it was hard to picture how things went down. I made it to Little Round Top, which was one of the areas I did remember from the movie Gettysburg. Then I took off to find the nearby KOA and get my tent setup. 

Wide open fields that are still farmed today

View from one of the Round Tops

In the morning, I headed to town for breakfast and then on to the visitor center. There are all sorts of tours available and if I had the time and maybe a couple more people to share the cost, I would have hired a guide to join me in the drive around the battlefield and provide live commentary. Instead, I watched the movie and cyclorama and attended the free ranger walk/talk that was an hour or more. Ranger programs are always the way to go I'd say. It was great, he walked us to the main battlefield along Cemetery Ridge. It was very interesting, though I'm not sure how much of the detail I retained. 

The ranger was helpful in describing the scene so you could picture it better. There are forested areas around Gettysburg, but imagine that all the underbrush has been cleared as most of the land was either farmed or used for livestock. There were thousands of men and all needed water and food. Gettysburg was a great location for this battle because it is an intersection of 10 roads in one spot, so easier to maneuver troops and supply lines. There was water, though by the time all the men converged, the running creeks wouldn't be able to sustain their needs, the needs of animals and remain sanitary after the bloody days of war. 

We walked by a widow's house which was taken over by Union leaders. Imagine your house becoming the target for the enemy, the artillery shells falling all around it, eating all your food, raiding the garden, demolishing your winter stores, slaughtering your farm animals. All the officer's horses also feeding and drinking at your house, not to mention pooping (and horses poop ain't small). Your picket fences are torn down to provide wood to the soldiers. Then, when the artillery shells do get close, you have dead horses all around. The ranger said there would have been 16 dead horses and men left all around this lady's house. Yet she stayed throughout and after the war to put it back together and live out her life. Imagine trying to take care of one dead horse, much less 16.  And I'm sure that wasn't first priority, so you can imagine what it was like after only a few days.

Widow's house

Standing on Cemetery Ridge with the town to our right, we looked left towards Little and Big Round Tops. See picture below. While the two hills don't look much different today, they attacked at Little Round Top because it had been logged back in the day and was clear whereas Big Round Top was still covered by forest. Along this ridge (you can't really tell but the land off-camera to the right was lower), was the union Army; from where I stood (even behind me) out to the end of those hills.

The Round Tops off in the distance beyond the domed memorial (Pennsylvania I think)

Gettysburg was the bloodiest overall battle, lasting three days. This battle was all uphill, the Confederates charging on Union soldiers. It is hard to imagine how you would have felt this seemed doable. Some of the uphill was gradual but still must have been daunting. Soldiers would on average travel 12 miles per day when on the move. If pushed, they could achieve 28 miles in 11 hours. 

The park ranger was excellent and the museum inside very interesting. The store of souvenirs is ridiculous. They must have anything you could think of! Here are some wikipedia facts that I didn't retain (from nps.gov/gett/):
When - July 1-3, 1863
Union Leader - Major General George Gordon Meade (Army of the Potomac ~93,000 men)
Confederate Leader - General Robert E Lee (Army of Northern Virginia ~70,000 men)
51,000 casualties (dead and wounded)

Examples of soldiers

General information on the battle

What makes an army

Me and Abe 

The National Park Service is working hard to restore the battlefield to a more original setting - planting trees in certain areas and even moving the visitor center so that it can't be seen from the battlefield.  However, in the orchard, they did use a variety of fruit (peaches I think) that do not require/attract bees in order to make it more pleasant and less risk of a bee sting to the public.

Definitely recommend Gettysburg!!