NYC Journal~Day #2 (Continued)
We felt like we were experts on the subway after our first trip. After all, all you have to do is read the signs (who would’ve thought)! This time the train was full, I was a little shocked that nobody offered their seat to my grandma ~ she definitely doesn’t look 79 (more like 60) so maybe that’s why! She held the pole and my sister stood behind her, when the train took off, of course they were tossed around a bit…another laughing moment between us girls. Once we start, it’s difficult to stop which made our section of the train a little bit more chipper ~ you could tell people were smiling on behalf of our laughter!
Getting off the subway at Prince Street, I believe. We were definitely in a different atmosphere. It’s amazing how this small island changes so dramatically after every 10 to 15 blocks. I wish we had more time! The buildings were so beautiful! You could feel a sense of calm, yet abandonment at the same time. We asked a man where we could find ground zero, he stepped out into the empty street, pointing between two buildings. “Do you see that huge crane? That’s it”. We stood. Starring at the crane, the open space in the middle of all these jam-packed high rises. We started walking and after crossing the street, we seemed to be “following the crowd”! Passing street after street, they were deserted! Some streets curved dramatically and the buildings followed the on going, disappearing path one on top of the other. The buildings are old but made everything so much more dramatic & beautiful, again with the architectural designs, the bricks, the colors, the way the sun peaked through each building onto another. You could sense the New York Stock Exchange was close by, you could FEEL the power in the air but on this Saturday afternoon, even the streets were taking a quiet rest from the hectic lifestyle that would start again come Monday morning.
Walking up Fulton Street towards Church Street we came to St. Paul’s Chapel on the right. Straight ahead, across the street are tall covered fences with open air just…hovering. The church yard and inside was crowded, even though this church (built in 1766) was now a place of healing & comfort, I just wasn’t feeling it at that moment. I was distracted by the guys selling their products out of large cardboard boxes taking advantage of the crowd to sell their goods, it disturbed me. I’m not comfortable in grave yards (which is in the small yard in front of the church). I respect and find the history absolutely amazing however, walking on the ground is a little unsettling for me so I found a bench and waited for the girls to look around. I did read that when St. Paul’s Chapel was built, it was in the middle of corn fields & was the cities gathering point….which I smirked at with a quick ”hmm” through my nose….this tiny little chapel used to be the center of attention and today is over powered by all of the huge buildings & striving businesses. And NOW, the purpose for which it was first built has become it’s main purpose again today, 242 years later! BEAUTIFUL! It survived the destruction of 9/11, which I found absolutelyamazing seeing that it is directly across the street and so tiny! Extremely damaged of course…but still standing, along with all these headstones, old, falling apart but well taken care of.
We walked further down the road looking for some kind of entrance, but I’m glad there wasn’t any, not after being able to look through the fence at what was left of the twin towers. Off of Liberty street the fire station has built a beautiful memorial dedicated to 6 firemen who ran INTO the towers as they began to fall. I started to get a little irritated with a man sitting on the corner, playing a flute and he only knew ONE song (”God Bless America”) ~ yes it was a fitting song, but….come on – SHUT UP! Let people have this moment to themselves without being bothered. I realize years have passed and people have moved on, I realize these people were just trying to get by in life, but what really pissed me off was the men walking through the crowd, flashing a small photo albumn full of pictures of the twin towers being hit & falling to the ground, trying to sell them! GGGGRRRRRRRRR…..I wanted to rip the pictures out of their hands and HIT THEM with it! Go to McDonalds and get a job you inconsiderate ass, how heartless of you to flash pictures of people’s loved ones dying to make a buck! (ok, my venting is over).
I am now standing in the street, exactly where I was on September 9th, 2001. Instantly, I lift my hand to feel my stomach, thanking God for getting me, my husband and our unborn child home safe the day before this horrible disaster took place. I remember stretching my head out of the cab to see the top of these two magnificant buildings but the sun was so bright that day, the glare blinded me & I remember just barely making out a corner of one of the buildings which helped me tell where the building ended and the sky began! They were beautiful, strong buildings and as I walked up to the fence to look through an opening, there was nothing but dirt, the guts of the under ground levels were torn apart as if a massive tornato had just struck. I was supprised that it still looked like wreckage after all these years, I was expecting……..I don’t know what I was expecting. Then again, now that I think of about it, it had to take one year just to clean & disgard 10-20 floors of debree!
All of us girls were split up, I didn’t know where anyone was, there was nothing to talk about at this point anyway. I couldn’t hold back my tears as I looked through the fence, until…. a few men appeared out of nowhere, they must have climbed a ladder from below. They were dirty & exhausted, their yellow hard-hats were covered with dust as they walked torwards the gate to get out. the crowd took steps backwards as they started to unlock the gated doors. And as they opened, everyone had an overwhelming glance at the full picture, of the destruction, the disgust, the fear, it was silent….but these men ~ smiled & noded their heads, hello. Which gave me a peacefull feeling in my heart. These great people are still working to fix what was lost but never forget! God bless them.
Ok….we have GOT TO get out of this “mood”~ I call everyone, we found each other and decided we didn’t have time to do our planned Staten Island ferry ride (bummer), but we did have time to do a quick run through the huge discount mall across the street! 
Grandma found a bargan on a wallet, originally $175 ~ sale for $35 ~ SOLD…she had been carrying around the same old wallet for probably 20 years now! I was going to buy a pair of kick-ass kennith cole sun glasses but the crowd of people pushing and pulling kind of turned me off so I had to pass! Everybody’s feet were killing, my back felt like it was ready to break in half, I went outside to kneel and stretch my back while waiting for little miss-shopaholic (my sister)! We decided to cab it back….walking back to the subway was just not an option for any of us! We had to get back quick….we only had a couple hours before our broadway show started!!!!
A quick shower & change of cloths! We scrambled to fix our hair and put our make-up on! We were all so exhausted, the thought of dressing up was just not exciting at all the way it usually is! We managed to be out the door right on tim! Who’s bright idea was it to get a cab when we only have to walk 5 streets up? Traffic was horrible and what would’ve been a 5 minute walk turned into a 15-20 minute cab ride! But we made it! Gershwin Theatre ~ WICKED!
We made it in the nick of time, we opened the door just after the lights dimmed and the music had just started! The little old woman slowly shuffled along the aisle to our seats with her flashlight! In the center of the balcony (my favorite…the music rises & is so much better from above)! My sister had already seen Wicked in Chicago but this was the first time for the rest of us! Oh we were so exhuasted and just happy to be sitting, knowing we weren’t going to have to walk any time soon was oh so wonderful!
Let me tell you about Wicked if you haven’t seen it yet (which by now, is probably not a lot of people)! First of all, the state and props were awesome! Everything was amazing to look at & it all fit the story perfectly! As for the story itself! Not at all what I expected! I wasn’t very interested in seeing Wicked when it first came out & to be honest I was leaning torwards seeing something else when we were deciding on which tickets to buy! My gosh, was I wrong! I thought “Oh gee, The Wizard of Oz, whoopdy-doo“! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Wizard of Oz, but now, I love it even more now that I’ve seen Wicked! The story line captured me RIGHT AWAY! It left me guessing, it left me wanting more AND it had humor ~ which I never would’ve expected! Along with a love story…who would’ve guessed? Every time I hear that song “Popular” ~ I start laughing! The girl who played Glenda was a stich…or should I say “ditz” (and she did such a great job playing the role). Now for the best part, that I just can’t rant and rave enough about…..The Wicked Witch! Let me first say this, music has been a part of my life since I can remember! “Singing” being the key to my heart! I have been in singing in concerts & contests from the age of 6 to 19! I have a PASSION for the sound of beautiful, strong voice! In all the years I have been involved in singing, I have NEVER – EVER – In my life, heard an Alto voice like this Wicked Witch from Wicked! Don’t get me wrong, I love accapella groups & they just don’t sound good w/out that alto, but this woman……HOLY CRAP!!!! I lost my breath at one point, the hair on my arms stood up straight and tears filled my eyes {and if you have never experienced that feeling from hearing someone’s voice then I feel so sorry for you}! You have GOT TO see Wicked! I don’t want to keep talking about it just in case someone hasn’t seen it yet so I’ll move on!
The show ended and of course we were the last people sitting in the audience….like always, we were too busy jibber-jabbing to notice until the usher announced to us that they were closing and we needed to leave! OOPS! We decided to walk back to the hotel, we avoided Broadway this time and took 8th instead! The streets of course were still crowded with people, all who were just starting their night while we couldn’t wait to lay our head on the pillow! I walked slowly with my Grandma while the others walked ahead! We talked about all the things we had seen and how lucky we were to be here together! She is the most amazing woman I have ever known, I am so proud to be a part of her life!
We couldn’t help to stray into the bar once we got back to the hotel. It was dark and loud but at the same time very modern and intimate. We sat and ordered a drink, talked and people wathed until we just couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore! The waitresses and Manager of the bar were amazing, such wonderful people in this hotel ~ mark it down “The Paramount”! We headed back to our tiny rooms and yet my sister, cousin and I stayed up for another hour talking since we were able to sleep in just a little longer then we did this morning! Before I knew it, we were asleep in no time!