World Trade Center

Saturday morning we slept in late and took our time making it to the World Trade Center site. We missed out on the tours because they were sold out but we took our own walking tour, which was still pretty moving. Across froom the WTC site is the new tribute center and the fire station, which was there when Sept. 11 happened. They've rebuilt the station so it looks very nice now and they have a tribute wall along the side, with the names of every fireman who died on 9/11. Inside the station, they have a tribute to the firemen who were lost from this fire station.

It was crazy to think that it has been 7 years since 9/11. The site is all under construction so there's not much to see but it's still pretty uncanny to see such a huge gap in the middle of a city block, where two tall buildings used to be. We could also see the opening to a subway station that used to be underneath the World Trade Center, which was a little trippy.

Inside the fire station was the tribute that honored the 6 firemen from the station who had lost their lives on 9/11. There were a few artifacts there, too, like a door from a fire engine and the original street sign for Liberty Street, which the WTC was on.

After visiting to WTC site, we rolled on over to Wall Street, which was around the corner. Since it was Saturday, it was incredibly quiet but it was cool, nonetheless.

On Wall Street was a statue of George Washington, since this was the building where he was inaugurated.

Battery Park was around the corner from Wall Street so we walked over there. It was a really pretty park, with a great view of the statue of liberty across the way.

This sculpture was in Battery Park, with a flame burning in front of it and a plaque that said that it used to sit in the center of the World Trade Center. It was interesting to see how damaged it was from the blast that hit the center on that fateful day. The flame burning in front of it was an eternal flame, put there in 2002, in order that everyone who sees it remember that day.

After a short day of touristing, we decided to go back to the hotel and call it a day. We got back at about 8 pm and went to bed early. It was so worth it. We needed a break from all of that running around we'd been doing. We were only halfway through. Two days to go!