There is only one place I'd ever rather be than home. That place is New York City. If you've read this blog for a while, you know of my love for New York.Today is always hard for me, every year. I know it is for everyone in this country. I have a love for this city that I can't really explain. It was love at first sight, and I fall in love more every time I'm there. It's electric, it's alive, it's beautiful, it's serene, it's amazing.
In late August of 2001, my husband took me to NYC for my first trip. I loved it like I knew I would. If I lived another life before this one, I know I was a New Yorker.
We went to the top of the Statue of Liberty, and got shots with the skyline as the background:
This is a picture of a picture because our scanner isn't working today, so excuse the quality. I still find it eerie how you can barely see the towers behind me. Less than two weeks later, those towers were gone. I treasure this picture so much!Today I thought it appropriate to share a few of my favorite pictures of NYC with you. The first (above) was a makeshift cross created by the workers at Ground Zero.
My favorite shot of Lady Liberty (again, sorry about the quality):
A view of the city from to top of Rockefeller Center (the best views are seen from here), from my most recent trip in January:
The city is so big, you just can't fathom it until you drive up to the island and see it...breathtaking. (This view is just half of it.)In my opinion, Times Square at night is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen:
ALIVE!My husband took his band there the January after the attacks. We were supposed to go to Japan and cancelled that trip for obvious reasons. Instead, we thought the best place to go would be our favorite city. We thought it was important the students be there at that time.
This is just some of what we saw at Ground Zero:
Absolutely, positively heartbreaking and heart-filling at the same time.
People would stop us on the street, seeing all the students, and thank us for coming to their city. I don't care what anyone says, New Yorkers are some of the best people on Earth.
You don't think of natural beauty when you think of New York, but Central Park is hands down one of the most gorgeous places I've been:
I know it sounds cliche, but we can't forget. I know it's getting easier to, but we just can't. We need to remind ourselves every year, we need to teach our children about it. We need to keep praying, healing, loving. On a trip a few years after 9-11, this was written on one of the walls around Ground Zero, and it still makes me cry:
God Bless America.
Absolutely, positively heartbreaking and heart-filling at the same time.People would stop us on the street, seeing all the students, and thank us for coming to their city. I don't care what anyone says, New Yorkers are some of the best people on Earth.
You don't think of natural beauty when you think of New York, but Central Park is hands down one of the most gorgeous places I've been:
I know it sounds cliche, but we can't forget. I know it's getting easier to, but we just can't. We need to remind ourselves every year, we need to teach our children about it. We need to keep praying, healing, loving. On a trip a few years after 9-11, this was written on one of the walls around Ground Zero, and it still makes me cry:
God Bless America. 
Thinking of New York today... As someone who lives in London - often the place of attacks over the years - though thankfully not on such an immense scale, I can empathise with the immense grief that everyone feels...
ReplyDeleteThanks for helping us all remember today.
ReplyDeleteLoved this for today. Thank you so much for sharing the photos and the memories! It has always been a dream of mine to go to New York at Christmastime to ice skate and see the famous Rockefeller Tree and obviously eat and shop away! Beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything you said about NYC. I've been several times and I can't get enough!
ReplyDeleteYour right about NYC-it's the best! I'm in NY about an hour from the city and we love it! Today is a hard day.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said! I agree. I adore NYC! I went for the very first time, the March after 911 occurred. I too fell in love with that city! And I, like you, found the people of NY to be among the kindest, most helpful of anywhere I had been.
ReplyDeleteA lovely post!
Lovely rememberance post Sarah and thanks for sharing your pictures with us. I have some fantastic memories in that amazing city as well. The tragedy that unfolded right before our eyes 8 years ago is still shocking and heartbreaking to us all.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend to you and yours.
Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteMy first trip to NYC was this May and it was even better than I had imagined. I loved seeing ground zero in person and I could really feel the loss and healing there.
It's amazing to see pictures with the towers in the background. I don't think you realize how tall they are until you've been there, see how tall the other buildings are, and then realize that the Twin Towers were TWICE as tall as everything else!
Thanks again.
your pictures are so great! it's been a while since i've been to new york. did i see from a previous post that you are indy? we just moved to green bay from carmel. i miss it so much!
ReplyDeletejust became addicted to your blog!
Before I went to NYC I used to think it was silly that people loved it so much...that people just SAID that because EVERYONE said that!
ReplyDeleteAnd 4 years ago I finally went. And I stayed in a hotel IN Time Square and I went to a Broadway show and I walked the entire city. And it is amazing. Nothing like it in the world. I cannot wait to go back!
You really do fall in love.
PS - I LOVE that picture of the Statue of Liberty!
I can still remember hearing the news. Ugh, so sad for so many families. It was such a quiet day on campus at Arizona State :-(. Great post and thanks for sharing the photos.
ReplyDeleteSarah~I love NYC. How could you not love that place?? So cool that you've been to St. Pauls as well. Your pictures just brought me back there for a little while. Thanks for taking the time to pay tribute today~I agree that it's *so* important that we don't forget...LOVE your pictures, how amazing that you were there 2 weeks before? Wow.
ReplyDeleteToday is my daughter's first birthday. I SO did not want her to come on 9/11 for obvious reasons, but she did. And now I am so glad. She is a reminder to me that there is still hope and little miracles in the midst of suffering and tragedy. We have a reason to celebrate today, yet remembering those who mourn.
ReplyDeleteyou are so right new york really is the best city ever!!! its magical!! i live in washington state but i go there as often as possible (twice so far) but think of it often! i hope we never forget what happened there, its one of those things i still remeber exactly what i was doing when i found out... thanks for sharing your pictures!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. I have never been to NYC. I have heard you either love her or hate her. Looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI'm so choked up right now - it never goes away, but that is what is important like you said that we never forget. God Bless America from coast to coast. Thank you for sharing. oxox *hugs*
ReplyDeleteWell put. We can't forget -- there is too much at stake.
ReplyDeleteI could have written your blog w/the same exact words only describing my love for NYC! AND I got up this morning and started going thru my pics from the 2x I've been to NYC. Before I even read this post, I changed my facebook & twitter pic to the SAME cross picture that you posted of the beams that form the cross! I always wear something patriotic and saying something about America on my shirt. Tonight for dinner it's my "Proud to be an American" dinner consisting of hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad and apple pie :)
ReplyDeleteIf I could have any wish in the world it would be to have my own brownstone apartment in Manhattan. I would absolutely be in heaven!
One more thing, when I need a little "fix" of NYC I have a bookmark on my computer of a live web-cam in Times Square. I can twitter you the link if you want (since I follow you on twitter, too!)
Thanks again for the reminder and God Bless America!!
Nice post on 9/11! I too have a love for New York City...I try to get there once a year around christmas, but it just isn't enough! And Time Square can be so enchanting at night...unforunately I usually just get to go for the day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story!
Wonderful post, Sarah ... I especially love the last picture.
ReplyDeleteI was with my New Yorker friend today. And she was there the day of the attacks, so every anniversary year since then she starts the day with a good cry. We really can't even fathom the pain and devastation that everyone who lived in that city felt. Thanks for such an amazing post.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this. As a native New Yorker I love hearing of others love for my wonderful city. I do not live right in Manhattan; I live in Brooklyn. But for days we could see smoke and smell a the distinctive burning smell. Such memories never fade. My next door neighbor worked in the second tower to be hit, and, praise God, made it out alive. However, he's never quite been the same.
ReplyDeleteIt's so wonderful to know that people like you love and remember my city.
I worked in DC on Sept 11, 2001 and saw the smoke from the Pentagon and heard the explosions. It's still so fresh in my mind and I'm sure the minds of others, so thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely tribute to The City. I've only been there once, but I fell in love, too. My husband hated it, and my sister-in-law and her husband, who were living there in a TINY apartment in Brooklyn hated it, too, but I'd go back in a... well, in a New York minute. We visited Ground Zero when we were there and I remember feeling as profoundly sad as I did the day the towers fell. You're right. It's like no place on earth.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this today. I love that last picture.
ReplyDeletePS: C'mon over and check out my blog, I've featured you today!
Hugs!
Thanks for sharing the photos. And how great that your hubby took the band there so soon after the tragedy. The part about the New Yorkers thanking them really touched me. There are fabulous people everywhere, I really think we need to remember that, so no wonder New York has fabulous people (so often people get caught up in stereotypes about New York, etc etc and forget to look for the good.) I'm Canadian, and I think it is not cliche to say "let's not forget".
ReplyDeleteOh, I too share your love for New York. It has to be the greatest city ever. I know what you mean about it just being so alive....when I'm there, I feel so alive too! When I'm not there, it's like I'm homesick for it.
ReplyDeleteI love your pictures of the beauty of the city. It is a wonderful place back then and today. We have to remember the devastation and what truly happened on that day 8 years ago. When we forget, we forget why our service men and women are fighting and the innocent lives that were lost on that day. Thanks for helping everyone remember...
ReplyDeleteBeautifully done, as always! I have a son who has always loved The Statue of Liberty, and he'll love that shot. Now we HAVE to go! Wonderful tribute, and I feel the same way about NYC!
ReplyDeleteWell said Sarah, i have never been to New York, but would love to visit there. I live in Canada and to this day, i will never ever forget what happened on that day, watching the news that day is still in my memories like it was yesterday. My 16 year old daughter went on a school trip last year to New York and they did visit the spot, which i was so pleased to hear.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing
hugs
janet
Oh, I love NY too! My parents both grew up in NYC and I have lots of relatives there. I have the happiest memories of visiting as a child. I still remember how incredibly exciting it was to catch the first glimpse of the city as we drove up.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's been 8 years since 9-11. I'll never forget looking out of my office window in Arlington, VA and seeing the column of smoke pouring out of the pentagon.
i am with you, New York has a special place in my heart after visiting it this year. i was so much more reflective after seeing the city and experiencing what a wonderful place it really is. i could nearly cry after reading your post, mine is similar today yet i'm still working on it a bit. thanks for this post...makes me feel like there is someone else who understands how i feel!
ReplyDeleteme too! All of it!
ReplyDeleteHubs is from NYC...he will never ever forget the friend he lost, his beautiful city...thanks for reminding us and sharing your pics.
ReplyDeleteNYC is totally one of my favorite cities. I would go there all the time if I could!! And I love, love Broadway ... and yes, Times Square is magical!! *dreamy sigh*
ReplyDeletenonchalantgirl.blogspot.com
i heart new york, too! hope you'll check out the photo on my blog today. it's of the cross, as well with the huge billboard in the background.
ReplyDelete.... and i heart your blog :)
peace -
what an amazing tribute to an amazing city!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your pictures and thoughts with us. It truly puts things in perspective. BTW-I want you to know that I LOVE your site and appreciate all the help that you offer. You have inspired me to do so many things around my house. I'm not so scared to make mistakes anymore. Thanks again. :)
ReplyDeleteObviously I am not alone in my love for NYC. I Echo your sentiments EXACTLY. I didn't know there were other people who loved it there as much as I do. I would live there in a second- but I'm pretty sure it isn't the best place to raise 3 kids. I've been 4 times in the last year and a half. I'm trying to get back there as soon as I can. When I was in highschool, we made a school trip to NYC and I have pictures of myself from the top of the towers, and inside one of the towers. Loved your post! Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteThat was beautiful. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time commenting but I have been "blog stalking" you for a months. Thanks for all your inspiring posts, including the non-crafty/decorative ones.
You can't see my blog from my profile so here it is:http://geekyaboutcrafts.blogspot.com/
I made my first trip to NYC last March for a "scouting" trip with the fam. It was so powerful to stand at that church and read the messages left by other visitors. The guys at the Fire Station were out and about on on e of our days and we talked to a few of them too. A month later hub took his band kids up to experience NYC.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. NYC is definitely one of the cities I hope to see before I die. I've never had the chance to go.
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ReplyDeleteBeautifully written post, Sarah. NYC is my favorite city to visit too. I haven't forgotten! God Bless America! :)
ReplyDeleteI spent Friday afternoon noticing that there were only a few people in my neighborhood who had their flags out. I found it so disheartening that so many people seem to be forgetting.
ReplyDeleteI spent Friday night watching back to back to back documentaries on 9/11 on the History channel. It still hurts so much to see those images, and I watched it all... making myself angry on purpose. I never want to forget the pain of that day, or the hope we had as a country when it brought us together.
I was working in the Portland, OR Mayor's office back then and we organized an "Oregon hearts NY" campaign and many of us traveled to NYC shortly afterwards to show support. You are right that New Yorkers are some of the nicest people in the world.
Sarah ~ I am loving this post and your pictures. We just came back from NYC on Monday and it was my first visit to the "Big Apple". I loved it ~ Times Square was amazing and I fell in love with Central Park. So you can imagine how pleased I was to see this while I was catching up on everything I missed in my blog world!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog btw ~ you do a fantastic job on it....and ~ I lurve your jokes!