Exploring NYC

What a day! Up at 4:30 a.m. to board a bus at 6:00 a.m. with member's of Jim's HOG group. At the last minute, we had decided to go with them to NYC on Saturday. It was a long day for sure and from 10:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. we explored Ground Zero, Soho, Times Square and a little Rockefeller Center, did some bull-riding at Johnny Utah's and made some great new friends.

The World Trade Center site of course is under construction still. It was good to be there looking at all the pictures and quotes of those who experienced 9/11 firsthand. The tourguides were two amazing women, one who almost lost her husband on that horrific day and the other who actually did. We got to experience firsthand their emotions and thoughts as the event happened and the aftermath. It was so surprising to hear about the amount of assistance that was provided to the families of the victims from all over the world and for the first time, I was aware of just how much the event touched everyone on this planet. It was also amazing to find out that many immediate events surrounding 9/11 actually contributed to a smaller amount of people in those two towers than what normally would be there at that time of day. Only a couple of hours separated the loss of 3,000 and 17,000 or more. I can't believe it has been almost 10 years since the event. It still seems like yesterday.

We struck out walking back from The World Trade Center site through Soho but it was too cold so we ended up on the subway. We had stopped in Soho at a little tea bar and had appetizers and some spiced red wine which definitely warmed us up!

As it was getting dark, we arrived in Times Square. All the lights and flash were great to see in person! You can't look anywhere without being overwhelmed by the stacks of advertisements and lights on the buildings. We stopped at the Marriott Marquis hoping to have food and drinks at The View, which I think was up around the 48th floor, but we had to settle for drinks in the Atrium lobby which was fantastic anyway!

From there, we headed off to Johnny Utah's where others from the group were meeting for drinks and food. We ran out of time and had to head back to the bus pick-up location but not before taking in some really funny bull-riding! I've never seen bull-riding at a bar before and it was hysterical. Some of these guys were really talented riders including Jim!



It was a fun day, meeting some new friends and exploring NYC. Next time we will determine ahead of time what we want to see and where we want to go. There is so much and it can't be condensed into one day there. With another cup of coffee, I might be able to get something done in the studio. Cheers!

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