This visit to the 9/11 Memorial required some serious planning, you cannot just walk in and expect to get in. Since a few of you expressed interest in my visit last year, I’m sharing my notes for all to see, so my good research is not wasted!
1. Definitely book tix ahead online – then you will have no wait to get in.
2. We loved the 9/11 Memorial app, very useful inside the museum. Robert DeNiro narrates it! He was excellent. It’s free, and big MB, so download it before you go(took about 15 Minutes to download on my phone). Don’t waste time downloading it at the museum.
3. We did the tour for outdoors, the Memorial aka The Void (their term). Our guide was terrific, learned a lot about those pools and the surrounding area. Lots of secret codes, roses, things happening that are curious. The guide breaks it down nicely. Suggestion: take the outdoor tour early in day before you enter museum. Once you go in, you cannot exit and return. (Too bad about that, we would like to have taken a break and returned later. )
4. Films: they show THE FIRST PITCH film only once a day at noon. Make sure you arrive in time to get in there, it was fascinating…we watched all three special films in main auditorium from 12-1:15.
5. Don’t miss the REBIRTHING film, it plays all day in a different theater.
6. The museum café was pricey and not up to par IMHO. I was sorry I didn’t pack lunch. So definitely bring lunch, snacks, whatever you need for a 4-6 hour day.
7. And finally, it was NOT as emotional as I thought it would be – the upliftment comes from seeing ALL THE GOOD that people did to help each other…I was touched, moved and inspired by our species💙. The exquisite levels of giving and sacrifice were ASTOUNDING! I learned so much, even though I was living and working in NYC when this happened.
8. Transportation: There is super easy access from the 4/5 Express train to Fulton St, grateful for the NYC SUBWAYS! They are awesome! (most of the subways take you down to that area)
9. After another marathon of walking, we went up to Chinatown for soothing foot massage. I have a great place at 107 Mott Street, clean, great value and they are awesome. You can just walk in, no reservation needed.
10. Lunch or Dinner suggestion: Right near the foot massage place, we had a delicious dinner at Little Shanghai, 144 Mulberry St. Yum. No reservations.
The trauma of 9/11 still cannot be grasped – I realized after the 5 hours that it is just impossible to imagine what it’s like to run from an exploding building while chunks of furniture, restaurant trays, other debris and parts of airplane are falling out of the sky on your way… this horror was just off the charts.
Yet there was SO MUCH BEAUTY in the recovery and “rebirth” process…which adds to the mystery of the need for contrast, paradox and tension in this Universe.
In sum, I loved the 9/11 Memorial. It is deeply dialectical, moving and ultimately inspiring. Highly recommend!
Onward and Upward🌟
Lisa Wessan
Source: Notes from my journal 10/01/18.
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