Reflections in Travel: New York City

I have been to New York twice in my life.  The first time was in February of 2001.  This was my Army retirement trip.  I had just started working as a contractor in November of 2000 and I needed a break.   So Terri and I flew up there for the weekend.  It was an incredible time, but my most vivid memory of the trip was going to the top of the World Trade Center.  For me, it is still hard to believe that 7 short months later the World Trade Center would cease to exist and the world as we once knew it would be changed forever.

I can remember sitting at Laguardia waiting for our return flight back to Nashville watching the news reports of Dale Earnhardt's death.  It's funny how you can remember exactly where you were at during specific points in history.   Particularly when the oddest of things happen.  Like when they announced the verdict to the first OJ Simpson trial, I was standing in line at the Wendy's in Breckenridge Colorado getting lunch for my family.  It is a crazy life that we all live.

So fast forward to 11 September 2001, I am at home sitting in my basement writing functional descriptions for an Army Logistics Web site.   I get a phone call from my mother telling me to turn on the television.  Well, I really don't need to explain what she was telling me to watch.

Two days later I had to fly to the DC area to give a briefing on the Logistics Program we were working on. Flying a couple days after 911 was very surreal.   Imagine an almost empty airport with military police and working dogs walking around it.  I remember there being less than 10 people on my flight. The shock of what happened had failed to set in completely.   It's like you could feel the world changing and I was pissed off about it.

So back to New York 7 month later teaching a logistics program course for a week.  Seven months after the tragedy the city was still in shock.   I was in Queens at Fort Totten in view of the Throgs Neck Bridge both in a high state of alert and heavily guarded. I can remember in the train and subway stations makeshift memorials to the individual victims.  During my stay, I was treated to a Yankees game free to all military and veterans. The nation was getting used to the new normal whatever we finally decide it to be. I can remember the game sitting in several different sections of the old Yankee Stadium.  Getting a feel for the house that Ruth built.  Of course, it is now dust also being replaced by a new ballpark across the street.

In a lot of ways the nation still hasn't decided what new normal is.  We are continuing to define this American Experience.   As I travel around this great nation I can feel we are better than we once were.  Things are moving in the right direction; of course, we still have a long way to go.  Who can say they would like to go back to how American Life use to be 50 years ago certainly not I.  I am looking forward to my next trip to New York the best city in the world.