End of a great vacation........

 I actually missed a day of blogging yesterday... it was a very busy day.  We went back to New York City...lower Manhattan... and we went to the 9/11 Museum.  I could most likely do an entire week or more about all that we saw and experienced there.  Most of the museum you are not allowed to take photos, so that explains one reason why I didn't blog last night.  Plus, it was more of an emotional thing.... I needed some time to let everything sink in.  I know that it has been almost 14 years since that event, and it has been easy to put it out of my mind.  But as you walk through the timeline of the events, it all comes flooding back in your mind.  I actually saw....LIVE...on the Today Show, the first plane hit the tower.  I just happened to be getting coffee in the kitchen of the church I worked at and the Elder Daycare center that shared our space had the TV on.  It was so frightening... we thought it was an accident at first.  But then as the coverage continued, it became clear it was something else entirely.  It was eerie to walk on that spot.  The museum is actually constructed BELOW those memorial pools I blogged about yesterday.  There is a room with floor to ceiling (VERY TALL CEILING) pictures of each of the people who died in this tragedy.  In another room, there is a constant recording by family members about the family member they lost, with videos.  It went on and on.  Through a time table of events, the search and hope for rescue (only 14 people were found alive) and then the terrible task of cleanup.  There was a burned and crumbled fire truck.....   There was one display that I stood in front of for a long time.  It was a map of the United States showing the airline traffic at 8:53am and then at 9:31am.  There were no planes in the air after that over the United States.  Ken and I remember how odd it was to not have planes flying over us.  And this was such a visual of the impact of that day on so many people. The museum did exactly what it was supposed to do.  It made me remember.

Yesterday we also went back to Trinity Church and actually walked through the cemetery and inside the church.  It was a great place to be, after spending several hours at the 9/11 memorial and museum.

I could have spent hours in the cemetery just reading the tombstones.  I can tell that I haven't spent much time in the East.  I am just not used to things being so OLD!  I saw more than one from the 1760's.  It certainly helped me get my focus back and to see Jesus on the throne, reigning over it all.  I loved one tombstone I saw that read, "Here lies Elizabeth, awaiting her glorious rising with Jesus".  Yes, it was exactly what I needed at exactly the right time!

We also went to Federal Hall and Wall Street.  We ate New York Pizza for lunch.  And Ken walked 1/2 way across the Brooklyn Bridge!  I waited in the shade at the City Hall Park.  It was 91 and very humid.  I wanted to protect my feet, but alas, I got another blister...this time on my heel!  (I think my new socks may have something to do with this).  We finished off the day having dinner at Tops Diner, which is supposed to be the best diner in New Jersey!  It was really good food and Ken splurged on an amazing desert..the first of the vacation!

Today was our last day in New York.  We realized that you just can not do it all in one trip, so we scaled back our plans.  We took the train to 33rd St this morning and saw Time Square.  Good Morning America was filming some kind of Army presentation (we never did figure out what it was exactly but there were soldiers all around).  We saw bagpipers and then this band played the National Anthem.  It was pretty amazing to be in Time Square for something like that, especially after the 9/11 museum!

We walked on Broadway and saw Macy's flagship store. They have a sign that says "World's Largest Store" and we thought it was just some kind of slogan.  But when you walk and walk and walk and it is still the Macy's store, yes it IS possible that it is the biggest.  And then we walked to Ken's happy place.......B & H Camera!

His camera actually came from this store (shipped to us, of course).  And he had never actually been inside of this store.  To quote Ken, "This is sort of like a super mega big Best Buy, with a whole floor of Camera stuff"!  He was certainly happy.  We actually got out of the store only spending $36, which is quite amazing.  

From there we walked to the Empire State Building.  We decided NOT to take the tour to the top.  Instead we had a really nice lunch in a pub in the building.  We took an early train back to our Hotel.

A bonus shot of us on the train.  It was a good decision to leave and start our trip home.  We drove 4 hours and shortened our trip tomorrow to just 8 hours.  

It has been an amazing week.  We have seen so much and covered so much ground.  I know that I have walked more miles in this week than I have walked in months!  Both of our destinations had so much history.... so many things to see.....so much to take in.  One thing is certain, we will need to go back again.  And mostly again.  

We have been so blessed on this trip.  Our travel has been good.  All of our activities have been outside and we have not had any rain.  We knew that we would be walking so we bought rain gear and never opened it!  (We did have one evening/night of rain in DC but nothing during the day!).  Our hotels have been just great.  We met so many really helpful people.  All of our train/subway trips went smoothly and we never got lost!  And every time I have felt my perspective shifting, or felt the ground a bit shaky, or been overwhelmed by what my eyes have seen, Jesus has always been there to bring me back to exactly where I need to be.  Yes, what a blessing.  

Jesus, thank you for time away from our routines.  Thank you for museums that preserve the past so that we do not forget our triumphs and our sorrows or our mistakes.  Thank you for your guidance and wisdom so that we do not repeat the mistakes of previous generations.  Help us to leave a legacy filled with you Jesus, for the generations to come.  Amen