Monday, September 10th, Tamie and I were up early and took the subway to Union Station. We surprisingly made it to Union Station with, dare I say, EASE. Although, I'm sure we stood out like a couple of sore thumbs. Locals would walk up to us and ask if we needed help. Our faces must have given away how nervous we really were.
We were early enough to eat breakfast while waiting for our 7:00am train ride. It just wouldn't have been right, if nothing had gone wrong. Suddenly there was an announcement that our train had been delayed until further notice. We freaked out. We already had a small enough window to see New York. We were supposed to get to NY at 10am, and we would leave NY at 7pm.
We quickly noticed everyone was running to the Amtrak booth to rearrange their train tickets. We did the same. Just as we were about to change our tickets, they announced anyone on our train could ride on another train leaving for NY, but it was leaving in two minutes. Everyone surrounding us began running, no, SPRINTING toward the train. We did the same. Sprinting down the stairs and finding a couple of seats just in time. That was a close one. The Priebs were on their way to New York City.
Once our three hour train ride was over, we (amazingly) managed to figure out the subway system in NY too. We took the subway from Penn Station to the World Trade Center stop. (We know that figuring out how a subway system works may not sound like a big deal, but for us it was something we were completely unfamiliar with!) When we emerged from the subway stop we immediately looked UP. The picture below is what we immediately saw. And for a couple of Kansas kids, it was breathtaking.
 |
| The new World Trade Center. |
 |
| An incredible view of the new Tower being constructed. |
 |
| Looking straight up the new World Trade building. |
 |
| The South Tower Memorial (left). |
 |
| South Tower Memorial (middle). |
 |
| South Tower Memorial (right). |
To attempt to put into words how Tamie and I felt standing there would be impossible. The enormity of the memorial was overtaking. All we could do was stand peacefully, in awe. The 9-11 Museum is not open yet. That was ok with us. Simply walking around the memorial was enough. The pictures below are from the Memorial donation room.
After we left the 9-11 Memorial we headed back to the subway. We took the subway to Madison Square Garden! From there, we walked(QUICKLY) with the flow of New Yorkers to Times Square.
Times Square was completely nuts! The mass of people, noise and even smells were something that neither of us will forget.
 |
| Times Square |
 |
| Tamie HAD to get a picture of Good Morning America's building. |
 |
| Times Square, the second tallest building is where the New Years Ball drops. |
 |
| One more of Times Square. |
 |
| A view from our train as we left New York. Giving us a real idea of how HUGE the World Trade Towers are! |
Tamie and I made it to our departing train for D.C. on time. Taking with us so many memories and thoughts about what we had just experienced. So, back to D.C. it was, for one more day of vacation.
