Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard about the twin towers? I can’t remember
what I ate for lunch two days ago but I remember where I was and what time on 9-11. I was driving to my job at a Barnes & Noble at 6:45 am. The radio announcer was talking about the attacks and I kept thinking this is a Tom Clancy novel. There was no TV at work; the manager played the radio over the PA system until the store opened at 9 am. Then the generic music started. While everyone else was glued to their TV set, I didn’t see any images until after noon.
I visited New York City for a few days in August. One of my destinations was the 9-11 museum. The museum is underwhelming at best. And the museum is expensive – $24/person, $18 with student ID, free to family members and victims. There is a gift shop at the end as you exit which I don’t mind. Think of any museum that doesn’t have a gift shop. As long as the merchandise is tasteful and appropriate then funds support the general museum operations and help keep it open. Heck, the New York Public Library has a very cool gift shop I dropped some change at.
I’m attaching pictures. At the end the exhibit is personal – a room full of color 8×10 photos, floor to ceiling on all four walls. The Vietnam Memorial lists names – seeing modern faces, mostly young, – most at their best such as wedding photos – in color – is real. The last room contains memorabilia – keys, wallets with ID photos, children’s pajamas from luggage on one of the planes that crashed. Everything was found in the rubble of the Twin Towers or Pentagon. I’m a museum geek because I like history and information, and I can be skeptical. But in the end it delivers. It’s a good one-time experience – at those prices I can’t imagine visiting twice.
9-11 is still very real for New Yorkers, like it was yesterday. I rode in cabs two different times with people who were there that day. I hope they write 
their stories down. I’ll never forget them.
God Bless America and the families of all the lost souls from that day.
The photo of the three American flags I took in Washington D.C. near the Washington monument.
