A look behind my eyes

First thing Sunday morning I headed back into Manhattan. I went first to the World Trade Center site. Before I even saw the area I had an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I imagine it’s the same feeling people get when they visit battlefields where thousands of people lost their lives. It’s such as sad place to be. Standing there on the pedestrian bridge looking at the construction, I couldn’t help but think about that day. No matter what your feelings on the war or any of the actions after that day, we will all remember what happened. It was the day we all lost a bit of our innocence, our thought that we were always safe in our own country and in our own homes. We were all New Yorkers that day, we all mourned for those lost. And that was the feeling I had standing there, loss.


After the WTC, I walked along the Hudson and just took a little time to kind of soak it all in. There are benches along the river where you can see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Jersey City. I’m not sure how long I spent there but it was a beautiful day to sit by the water and think. There were quite a few people around, walking or running and some just strolling along with their families.

I spent most of the afternoon walking around Midtown and the Garment District. There are so many shops, I don’t think there is anything you could possibly want that you couldn’t find in New York. I didn’t do much shopping (traveling on a budget) but it will still fun to check out all the stores.

People watching is so much fun in the city. You see every possible type of person and hear all kinds of different languages being spoken. I spent a lot of time just sitting on the steps of buildings, watching and listening.

I had lunch at a little place called Café Europa at Empire State Building. To be honest, I didn’t even notice where I was until my mom asked and I looked up and figured it out. I love the fact that everywhere I went for a meal had vegetarian options, which was such a nice change from Indy.

With a little time left before I had to head back to the hotel and get ready for the concert, I headed over to Times Square. They blocked off traffic to the area now and it was really strange to see people sitting in lawn chairs in the middle of the street just watching the advertisements scrolling across the large screens everywhere. The area was a little too touristy for me personally, but I’m still glad I got the chance to check it out.

I headed back to Jersey City and grabbed a little dinner at Bertucci near my hotel. I spent so much time walking around Manhattan I didn’t have much time to get ready and head back east to Brooklyn for the concert I was going to.

I made it to Club Europa in Greenpoint just as the first act was starting. I can’t remember their name, but that is ok because they weren’t very good. The bands I actually came to see (Anti No Where League, Duane Peters Gunfight, Cobra Skulls and Ashers) were all excellent. I got a chance to catch up with some people from the bands I hadn’t seen in a while and also made a ton of new friends. It seemed like everyone in the crowd knew each other, I guess because they all go to the same types of concerts, so I think people were interested in talking to someone new. I really think New Yorkers get a bad rap for being rude, because everyone I talked to was really nice. After the show a guy my friend Jake knew gave me a ride back to the PATH train and showed me the sights and good areas to live along the way.

I was a little nervous about riding the train back to Jersey at 2am, but I was pleasantly surprised. Even on a Sunday, the station was not deserted and I never got the feeling of being unsafe. I finally made it back to my hotel after another amazing day in the city.

Look for my post on Day 3 tomorrow!