Harry Potter and the BLT--Day 3--Saturday, September 17, 2011

I rolled out of bed bright and early to get ready for another early entry into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Krista decided to stay in bed longer rather than going back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. She further proved the point that no one can keep up with me, the Energizer Bunny, on a Disney trip.

After taking a shower, and throwing on some clothes, I ran down to Sal’s Market and grabbed a cinnamon roll for breakfast. Since I had some extra time, I brought my Nook with me, and sat at a table by the window and read for a while. It was really pleasant to sit and relax while eating a delicious pastry and enjoying the view. I almost felt like I was really sitting in a little café in Portofino, Italy.

After breakfast, I ran up to the room to finish getting ready, and do my final packing, as we would be heading to stay at the Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary that afternoon. Krista was up by the time I was ready to head out the door, so we made plans to meet at the Spiderman ride at Islands of Adventure later that afternoon.

I headed out the door and walked to Islands of Adventure, using the shortcut through the Hard Rock Hotel. I was at Islands of Adventure shortly after opening, and walked right back to the Forbidden Journey. I wound up taking two rides on the Forbidden Journey, once through the single riders line.

I then headed over and rode both sides of the Dragon Challenge. Since I had the time, I wound up taking a second ride on the red side.  Again, they were not timing the coasters to leave at the same time. One tip when you are planning on second ride on Dragon Challenge, look for the stairway on the right side about 75 yards or so after you exit the building to save steps when you are getting back in line.  It’s roped off sometimes, but if it’s open, it will save you some steps.

I then walked over to the Hulk roller coaster. I rode it three times with no wait. I had a bit of time before I had to meet Krista, so I decided to take a spin on Spiderman. This is one of my favorite attractions at Islands of Adventure. The 3D is excellent, and the motion of the vehicles is fantastic.

AsI was waiting for Krista, I grabbed some churros, and nibbled on them until Krista arrived. We then rode on Spiderman together. We then headed over to Seuss Island and rode on Cat in the Hat. This ride is really cute and fun.

We then went on the Trolley in the Sky. I didn’t discover this ride until last year, but it is really adorable if you listen to the story. While we were on the ride, we got to see the Seuss stage show being performed in one of the buildings. It looked really cute, but there were only about 20 or 30 people watching it.

We then headed over to see Poseidon. The sign said that the next show would be in 25 minutes, so we ran over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for 10 minutes to take a few pictures. We then headed back to Poseidon, and the sign still said 25 minutes until the next show. Well, let me tell you, this sign lies. It always says next show in 25 minutes, no matter how long until the next show. I had known that from a previous trip, but had hoped they had it right now. The team member at the gate told us it was 20 minutes to the next show, so we got in the line to wait for the next show. I was afraid that the team member might lie, just like the sign.  

The Poseidon show is entertaining, and hokey like most Universal shows. I have a big complaint about this one, though.  The viewing of this show is not very good. You stand throughout the show, and walk to several rooms to watch different parts of the show. Unless you are in the first half of the people through the door into each room, it’s nearly impossible to see very much of the show. They also cram as many people as they can into the show. We were in a full show, and always amongst the last people to enter the rooms, so we couldn’t see very much of the show. Little kids or short people would see even less than we would if they were stuck in the back. It’s a bit disappointing.

By the time we got out of Poseidon, it was time for our lunch at Mythos. This restaurant is excellent, and winds up costing only a little more than a counter service meal. It’s a very pretty restaurant, with a nice view of the park. It’s a great spot to get out of the heat and relax for a while.

I started off with a mixed green salad in a citrus dressing, which was very tasty. For my entrée, I ordered the buffalo chicken wrap, which is what I always order there. The wrap has mixed greens and cheddar cheese mashed potatoes in it (I still want to know who woke up and decided to put mashed potatoes in a wrap). It was served with French fries.  I always request a side of ranch dressing to give the wrap a bit more flavor. It’s really a great wrap--not too spicy. Krista ordered the Pad Tai, which she seemed to enjoy.

After lunch, we walked back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to take a few more pictures. Since there wasn’t a line, I took one more quick ride on the blue side of the Dragon Challenge.

We then headed out of the park, and went to do browse around in the Universal Studios show at City Walk. I had been debating buying a Ravenclaw shirt and a water bottle during our stay, and wound up deciding to not buy either of them.

We then headed to the boat dock. We had just missed a boat. Krista decided to wait for the next boat, but I decided to  keep moving, so I walked back to Portofino Bay. I arrived back at the resort just a minute or two before Krista arrived in the boat.

We wandered around the hotel, and then waited in the lobby for our driver Gene to pick us up at 3:00. The bellmen offered us bottles of cold water for the ride as we left, which was a nice touch. Our bags loaded into the car, we were soon on our way to Disney World! We made a quick stop for water and soda at 7 11 on our way. Gene also tried to get us into drive through Golden Oaks, but the security guard denied us.

We arrived at Bay Lake Tower at about 3:30 to check in. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we decided to browse around in the shops at the Contemporary.  The text message that our room was ready came at about 4:00, so we made our way to the bridge that connects Bay Lake Tower to the main building. We were in room 8609, which was on the top floor of Bay Lake Tower.

Once we made our way over the bridge, part one of the Spectacle of Keys began. You must insert your key in a slot in the elevator to gain access to the 16^th floor of Bay Lake Tower. We went into the south elevator right next to the bridge, and the key didn’t work. I then noticed a sign that said to use the north elevators to get to our room number.  So, we got off the elevator, and headed to the other elevator bank. I tried the key again, and once again, it didn’t work. I flipped it, turned it, and tried it every which way. I tried everything short of doing the hokey pokey and turning myself around to get that key to work.

So, off the elevator, and down the hall we went again, heading towards the main building. Along the way, I decided to give it one more try in the south elevator bank, and finally got the key to work so that we could get up to the 16^th floor. 

The keys were a bit of a nuisance throughout our stay. In all the times I went up to the 16^th floor, only once or twice could I get it to work on the first try. Most times, I’d have to try three or four times before the elevator would accept the key. On several occasions, I had to exit an elevator, send it away, and call for another elevator to get up to our room. The keys were definitely a big hassle throughout the trip, but our room made the hassle worth it.

Our lake view studio overlooked the swimming pool and Bay Lake. It also had a stunning view of Epcot, which was a nice surprise. It was very relaxing to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the view.

The room was nice, but I have to say that I didn’t think it was designed as well as most of the other Disney Vacation Club rooms I have stayed at. Most DVC resorts have lots of cabinets, drawers, nooks, and crannies to store stuff in the room. I thought some of the storage areas in Bay Lake Tower wasn’t really well designed, and wasn’t great storage space for clothes. For example, the kitchenette had a large pull out pantry against the wall. I just don’t see a storage space this large in a kitchenette was very useful in a studio accommodation. There was also a large cabinet above the dresser, but the shelves were only about four or five inches deep. As Krista mentioned, it would be great for DVD or CD storage, but not much else.

I also have to say that the bathroom design with the small sink area inside was not well designed either. I know that these bathrooms were originally designed so that the sink was outside the bathroom in the kitchenette area, and were redesigned based on complaints from owners. The small sink, and small shelves next to the sink were barely adequate to hold the toiletries of the two of us. I wound up keeping most of my stuff on the shelves under the vanity in the kitchenette.

The bathroom could also use a couple more towel racks. There was only enough space to hang two towels on rods in the bathroom, so if you have four guests in the room, you’d have to hang them over the shower rod or the laundry line. A towel ring to hold the hand towel at the sink would have been nice as well.

Once our luggage had arrived, we started settling into the room. We decided to make the couch bed up before we left. The couch bed was a bit difficult to open. It was definitely a two person job (unlike the ones at the Boardwalk, which I can open with one hand). There was only a bottom sheet when we opened the couch bed, and it had some crumbs on it. We could not find a blanket, pillow, or top sheet for the bed anywhere. It took three phone calls to get some sheets and blankets for the bed.

We were soon on our way to Epcot. Our first stop was Guest Services so I could purchase an annual pass. I had a one day ticket to apply to the pass. I planned on using my $250 Disney Visa Rewards towards my annual pass, but when I got to guest services, I remembered that I never transferred the last $200, so I wound up charging most of my pass.

When we got to the gate, I tried to use my brand new Annual Pass, but it didn’t work. We soon realized that it expired two and a half years ago. Since I was upgrading an old one day ticket, the system automatically used the date of the original pass. So back to guest services I went so I could have a new pass issued with the correct expiration date.

Once through the gate of Epcot, we made our way back to Via Napoli for dinner. We shared a pepperoni pizza. Krista really loves the pizza here. While I will say it’s the best pizza I’ve had on Disney property, I didn’t think it was great.  The sauce was very bland. I didn’t think it was worth the $30 the pizza cost us. It was pricy for a pizza (even by Disney standards). Krista got some chocolate gelato for dessert, but I decided to skip dessert at Via Napoli and grabbed a caramel marshmallow roll in the caramel shop in Germany instead.

We then headed towards Norway and Mexico, where we went on the boat rides. I always have to make sure that I go on these on each trip. They are both fun little rides.

After our rides, Krista and I parted ways. Krista was planning on staying to watch Illuminations, and I was planning on going to Jellyrolls. I also had plans to meet up with a DISer named DVCDeerNut, who is going to be on the cruise I am taking in December. I met DVCDeerNut and his wife Laura in Japan, and chatted with them for a while.

I then headed out of Epcot and walked to Jellyrolls. My favorites Scotty and Ray were playing, and it would be the only night of my trip that I would be able to see them. Michael and Matt were onstage when I arrived. I took my favorite barstool on the upper level of the bar.

When Scotty and Ray took the stage, I put up requests for some of my favorite songs. Scotty played Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met You Yet” right away, and by the end of the hour, my other requests for “Drift Away” and “Saw Her Standing There” were performed. It sure was great to be watching Scotty and Ray again.

While I was there, Scotty’s brother David stopped by to say hello. It was great to see David.  I didn’t expect to see him on this trip, so it was a nice surprise when he came over and tapped me on the shoulder.

At one point in the evening, someone tipped Ray $100 to play a song. I can’t remember what the song request was, but Ray had me laughing when he said he would fart the National Anthem for a hundred bucks. I guess I know what to request next time I have a hundred dollars to spare.

I wound up leaving the bar around midnight to head back to Bay Lake Tower. I knew we had an early breakfast reservation in the morning so I couldn’t really stay until closing time. It was a quick ride back to Bay Lake Tower. It cost about $17, including tip.

I snuck into the room as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t wake Krista, and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Harry Potter and the BLT--Day 2--Friday, September 16, 2011

Friday morning, Krista and I woke up early. As we were trying to get the motivation to get up and start our day, we were discussing the Portofino Bay. We both agreed that it was a beautiful resort, and we really liked out room.

Somehow, our discussion turned to the phone in the bathroom. Krista didn’t know why they needed a phone in the bathroom, and I gave her a few reasons why people might use it. The obvious is sometimes the phone just rings when you are on the toilet, and you need to answer. I then came up with a few other examples of why you might want a phone in the bathroom. For example, a man may want to call his mistress when he’s on a family vacation. Or perhaps a business traveler may need it to call the phone sex line. Needless to say, neither of us had any desire to touch that phone by the time we changed subjects, but we sure got some laughs out of it.

We finally got up and ready to start our day. We were planning on going on the water rides at Islands of Adventure this morning, so we decided to just throw on clothes and go, and then return to the resort later in the day to shower and get dressed. The water rides at Universal get you so bone drenchingly soaked that this is the best plan of action if you want to ride the water rides and you are staying at a Universal resort.

We were ready a bit early, so we decided to explore the resort. We stopped at Sal’s market, and where I grabbed a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast (since the muffin I got at Walgreens was NASTY). The sandwich was very tasty and piping hot. We then wandered around the resort looking at some of the beautiful piazzas and the main swimming pool. The harbor area is stunningly beautiful as well.

We then headed towards the dock to catch the boat to City Walk. We just missed a boat, so we decided to take a pedicab to Islands of Adventure. Our driver was very friendly, and told us that he had been driving a pedicab at Universal for about five years. He dropped us off at the Hard Rock Café, and we walked the rest of the way to Islands of Adventure.

The gates to Islands of Adventure opened about 7:50 for early entry into the Wizard World of Harry Potter. I picked a short line, and of course, per my usual luck, the people in front of us were having ticket issues. If you ever see me in a line to get into a park, choose a different line, even if it’s a lot shorter than the other lines. There could be two people in line in front of me, and they will have issues with tickets, or not know how to put their finger in the reader. On this morning, we watched at least 10-20 people go through the other turnstiles by the time we were able to get in.

Once through the gates, we followed the mob to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, taking the short cut beside the Green Eggs and Ham restaurant. Our first stop was Ollivanders.  There were only about 15 people in line when we got there, so we got into the next available show. Mr. Ollivander picked an adult to have the experience of having a wand choose her. This show is really cute, but I wish there was a way to have more people have the experience, and also a higher capacity for the show.

We then made our way over to the Forbidden Journey. I really love walking through the line to get on this ride. There is so much to see, and every time I walk through the castle, I notice something new. They really did a fantastic job on the castle.

The ride, of course, is amazing. It is very intense, and just keeps you flying throughout the entire experience. There are times when you feel like they are going to tip you upside down. I don’t want to go into details about the ride--I don’t want to spoil it for those who have not ridden yet. But if you are a Harry Potter fan, you must ride the Forbidden Journey.

After the Forbidden Journey, we took a ride on Flight of the Hippogriff. This is a cute mini roller coaster. You get a nice view of Hagrid’s Hut. We also took another ride on the Forbidden Journey.

Krista went to browse around the shops while rode on both sides of the Dragon Challenge. I was able to ride in the front row on both coasters, which was fantastic. I took a second ride on the blue coaster as well, since I got through the first two rides so quickly. They weren’t timing the coasters to run at the same time, which took away part of the fun of the coaster. Part of the fun of this ride is coming close to the coaster on the other track, and hearing the screams of the other passengers.

After having our fill of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Krista and I made our way over to Jurassic Park for our first water ride of the day. Since we were dressed to get wet, we wound up riding in the front row. This ride is entertaining, and I love the big drop at the end. Of course, we got pretty wet on the ride, but I did find a dry spot on my shirt to wipe my glasses off on.

We then headed over to Dudley Do Right Ripshaw Falls. I really love this flume ride, though not as much as I love Splash Mountain.  It’s not much of a storyline to follow, but the drops and turns are really exciting. At the end of the ride, we got hit with the water guns run by the evil people on the bridge. It’s nice to know that there are people out there who are willing to spend a quarter to douse complete strangers with water just in case they aren’t wet enough already.

We then headed over to Bluto’s Bilge-Ray Barges to complete the water ride cycle only to discover that it was closed for refurbishment. Since I was already soaked, and had been planning a third water ride, I decided to take another ride on Dudley Do Right Ripshaw Falls. Krista decided to skip the second ride, and sit on a bench in hopes of drying off a bit. This time, there were several people at the end waiting to hit me with the water guns. I guess I’m really popular.

Now that I was completely drenched from head to toe, Krista and I headed to the boat dock at City Walk to catch a boat back to the Portofino Bay. Of course, a boat was leaving just as we were approaching the dock, so we had to wait about 20 minutes for the next boat. I was wringing water out of my clothes while we waited, and I think I could have filled a kiddie pool with that water.

When we arrived back at the resort, of course the housekeeper was working on our room, so we headed outside to wait 20 minutes for her to finish cleaning the room. We then went back up to the room to get ready to have more fun at Universal Studios in the afternoon.

When we were ready, we started to walk towards City Walk to have lunch at Emeril’s Orlando. The boat was there, so we hopped on the boat. We were seated at a table by the window at Emeril’s, so we were able to people watch while we dined. Our server brought us some delicious warm dinner rolls while we reviewed the menu.

I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with homemade steak sauce. The burger was juicy and flavorful. The steak sauce was delicious—very tangy and vinegary. It was served with deliciously crisp pomme frittes, which were served with spicy ketchup. This was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.

Krista ordered the Shrimp Po’ Boy, which was also served with pomme frites. I can always tell how much Krista enjoys her meal by how much food is left on her plate. She left a lot of pomme frites, but the Shrimp Po’ Boy was all devoured.

Krista and I wound up sharing a slice of banana cream pie for dessert. Emeril’s banana cream pie is one of the best desserts in the world, and one slice is perfect to share. It’s about five inches of banana slices and rich whipped cream filling in an amazing homemade graham cracker crust. It’s worth the trip to Emeril’s Orlando (or Tchoup Chop) just to get a slice of delicious banana cream pie.

After lunch, we walked over to Universal Studios. Our first stop was the I Love Lucy Tribute. I’ve probably visited Universal 15 times, and this was the first time that I went to the I Love Lucy tribute. There were some neat Lucille Ball artifacts, including dresses, costumes, jewelry, and personal letters. If you have ever watched “I Love Lucy” and you appreciate the comic greatness of Lucille Ball, this exhibit is definitely worth checking out.

Krista headed over to see the Animal Actors On Location. I’m not an animal person, so I decided to get an extra ride on the Simpsons and Men In Black. Even with the Express Pass, I wound up waiting about 20 minutes to get on the Simpsons.  They just weren’t loading the ride correctly this afternoon for some reason.  I was sent up to the top level of the ride, and wound up in a car on the far end of the theatre. I was sitting in the back row right next to the walls of the car. This seat was horrible. It blocked my vision of a good part of the screen.

After the ride on the Simpsons, I took a quick ride on Men In Black and then went to meet Krista. We decided to take a ride on ET. We decided to give fake names instead of our real names. At my suggestion, Krista used Penelope, and I wound up using Gretchen. It reminded me of the time I rode with my friend Diane, and got to the team member who takes names first, and told them my name was Diane so she had to use a different name.

After the ride on ET, Krista went to see ET, and I went to Rip Ride Rockit. The standby line had a 25 minute wait, but since I was alone, I opted to get in the single rider line. There were about 25 people in line ahead of me. I have to say that I was a bit annoyed by the single rider line because most of the people in line in front of me were parties of two, three, or four. While I understand small groups jumping in the single rider line when the lines are long, it makes absolutely no sense if the line is only 25 minutes long. It just makes the single riders line unreasonably long, and winds up causing everyone in the single riders line wait longer, including those groups.

After waiting in the single rides line for 10 minutes, I wound up switching over to the regular line. The ride broke down for a short time, and they ran a few cars through empty.  As I got to the point where I was less than 20 people from the end of the line, they actually pulled six people from the single rider line onto the ride. When they loaded me onto the car, about five people who were in front of me in the single rider line were still waiting to board that line. So, I proved my point that groups in the single riders line when the line is just 25 minutes is a dumbass decision.

I then headed to meet Krista. Along the way, I ran into Shrek and Donkey. This is one of the best character interactions in any theme park. Since there was only one group in line, I decided to get in line to talk to Donkey. Donkey noticed my gray shirt, and asked me if I wore it to match him. He asked me my name and where I was from, and he when he heard I was from Boston, he told me that I should have brought him some Boston baked beans. He told me he’d come to Boston so we could have a cookout, and I joked that we wouldn’t serve donkey meat. He asked me if that’s what we eat in Boston, and he said he would have to stay away if we did. Donkey was really funny, and I enjoyed interacting with him.

When I met Krista, we headed back to see Disaster again. I wound up volunteering to be one of the cast members in the show. I was cast as one of the evil oil company employees, a role I’m quite good at and have portrayed three times. Unfortunately, something must have happened to the tape, because they didn’t use any of us in the group. I guess they didn’t realize that they had a two-time Academy Award winner in their cast that day.

After Disaster, I took a quick ride on the Mummy, and Krista and I headed over to City Walk. We went into a couple of shops, and then went walked back to the Portofino Bay. We stopped at Sal’s Market to have some pizza. We split a half cheese/half sausage pizza. I also got a Caesar salad. The pizza was good, especially when I added parmesan cheese and crushed hot pepper.

After dinner, we went to the room to change into our bathing suits for some pool time. Before our swim, we headed back down to the harbor to watch the singers that perform there each night at sunset. They perform from a balcony off the lobby, and there is plenty of space to watch them.  We grabbed a couple of chairs, and relaxed while they sang. They sang about six songs. Some were Italian songs that I recognized, but can’t remember the names of. They also sang “Come Fly with Me” and “Fly Me to the Moon.” It’s definitely worth checking them out if you are at the hotel.

Krista and I then went for a swim in the pool. The pool was very beautiful with a nice slide. We chatted with a nice couple from Atlanta who were there for a Royal Caribbean event introducing cruise and Universal Studios packages.   

After our swim, I wandered around the resort for a bit to enjoy the resort at night. It looks really beautiful all lit up at night.

I then headed back to the room so I could get some sleep so I could head over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for early entry.

Harry Potter and the BLT--Day 1--Thursday, September 15

At long last, my trip was here! It had been nine months since my last trip to Orlando, and I was excited to finally be heading back to my home away from home! I was meeting my friend Krista from Texas at the airport, and I just couldn't wait to get there.

I woke up long before the sun rose to get ready for my 8:30 a.m. flight to Orlando. My friend Carol offered to drive me to the airport. She told me she would pick me up at 6:30, and she knows that I get a bit nervous about getting to the airport late, so she promised she wouldn't oversleep or be late. She texted me in the morning to let me know she was ready to go, but at 6:32, she wasn't there, so I texted her to give her a hard time about being two minutes late, because that's what I do--I give people a hard time. She called me up and apologized for being late, but I told her I was only kidding.

Carol arrived a couple of minutes later. I loaded my stuff in her car, and we were on our way to Logan Airport. I was at the airport shortly after 7:00, and I made my way to the bag drop. It was a good thing I got to the airport early because the bag drop was huge! I guess JetBlue was trying to do me a favor by getting me used to waiting in line. It took nearly a half hour to check my bag.

I made my way to security. I was surprised to see that the security line in terminal C was combined into one line for both sides of the terminal. The set up made the security line move quicker, and allowed access to the restaurants and shops on both sides of the terminal. I liked the new set up.

When I made it through security, I grabbed a quick breakfast, and was soon on the plane to Orlando! We arrived at Orlando about ten minutes late. While we were taxiing, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, and discovered that it was broken! I had it in my pocket, and the screen got crushed against the arm rest. I could not make or receive phone calls or texts! I had no way to contact my driver, or Krista!

Once the plane was at the gate, I got off the plane. My first stop was the arrival board to see if Krista’s plane had landed yet. Krista’s plane was supposed to arrive about 15 minutes after mine, but the board said that here flight would now be almost an hour late! So, I was going to have some time to kill before Krista arrived.

I made my way to baggage claim, and found a pay phone so I could call Sprint to see if there was anything to do about my phone. We had a horrible connection on the pay phone, but it didn’t matter, as it sounded like my phone was not under warranty anymore. And since I didn’t buy the insurance on the phone, I was going to be out of luck. But she put me on hold, and eventually our call was disconnected. I called back again, and basically found out there would be nothing I could do since we didn’t have a car to go to the Sprint store. I didn’t really want to take time out of my vacation to do that anyways.

With my bag now in hand, I made my way over to the escalators so I could watch for Krista to arrive at baggage claim. When I saw Krista on the escalator, I waved to get her attention. I think she was relieved to see me because she had been unable to reach me on my broken phone. She had already heard from our driver Ed, and found out that he was going to be sending his colleague Gene to pick us up since Krista’s flight was so late. Gene told Krista to have me call Ed, who I have used for transportation many times. He was a bit concerned about me because it’s not like me not to have my phone on. I gave Ed a quick call to assure him that I was fine, and thank him for making arrangements to send Gene to get us.

When Krista had her bag, we met Gene, and he took us to his SUV. His SUV was clean and comfortable. Gene was very kind and personable. He even offered to take us to the Sprint store to deal with my phone, but I declined. I knew that the issue wasn’t going to be something that could be fixed quickly, and even getting a new phone up and running would take time I didn’t really want to take out of my vacation. So, off to Portofino Bay we went!

We arrived at Portofino Bay just before 1:00, and we were met in the lobby by my friend Michael. I hadn’t seen Michael in a while, so I was glad that he was able to arrange to swing over to the Portofino Bay for a quick hello. Like everyone else, Michael had tried to reach me on my broken phone, and of course, couldn’t reach me. So, he was relieved as well when he saw us walk into the lobby. Michael is truly a sweetheart, and kindly offered to lend me his cell phone for the trip, or run out and get a pay as you go phone for me. He even checked in the hotel gift shop to see if they had them.

After chatting with Michael for a while, we checked into the Portofino Bay. Our room was a standard view room on the third floor of the east wing. Our room overlooked a wooded area and had a small balcony. There was a folding chair in the closet that we could use if we wanted to sit out on the balcony. After fussing with the lock for a few minutes, we weren’t able to get the door open, so it didn’t look like we would be spending any time on our balcony. I was able to mess with it a bit more and get it open the next day, though.

Our room was very nice. It was very roomy, clean, and comfortable. The bathroom was so big that the tub and toilet were in different zip codes. There was also enough room to fit a large decorative shelving unit in the corner. I wish that the room had been designed differently so that the sink was outside of the main bathroom area.

With this stay at the Portofino Bay, I have now stayed at all three of the Universal resorts. I enjoyed all three resorts, but I don’t think I would spend the extra money to stay at the Portofino Bay on a short trip again. It just isn’t worth the extra cost if you aren’t planning on spending a lot of time at the resort. It’s a beautiful resort with lots of picturesque and quiet spots to relax, and the pool was very nice. But for the amount of time we spent at the resort, I do not think it’s worth an extra $70 a night over what we could have paid for the Royal Pacific or the extra $30 over the price at the Hard Rock. Out of the three, I prefer the Hard Rock for its closeness to the parks, and I love the music artifacts and photos throughout the resort, and the photographs in the rooms.

After freshening up, we started to walk to Universal Studios. We exited the east wing via the stairs near the quiet pool, and followed the signs along to the theme parks. We must have missed a sign at some point because we wound up at an intersection leading to the Hard Rock Hotel. We opted to cross the street, and cut through the Hard Rock. Going this way probably saved us close to a quarter mile of walking from our east wing room. I’m not sure it would save you any steps if you were staying in another part of the resort, though.

When we arrived at Universal Studios, our first stop was Mel’s Diner to grab some lunch. We both wound up getting the chicken nuggets and fries. Krista also got a chocolate shake, which she said had the consistency of a Wendy’s Frosty. The first chicken nugget I took from the container was excellent--it was thick and juicy. The rest were just OK. Some of them were very thin and tough. It wasn’t the best meal of the trip, but it was enough to tide me over until our dinner at Tchoup Chop that evening.

After lunch, we went to see the Horror Makeup Show, which was scheduled to start just a few minutes later. We showed our room key so we could access the Express Pass queue, and were seated in the front row as soon as we got in line. The show itself was typical Universal--very hokey with lots of corny jokes. The two hosts who ran the show were great, and they were very entertaining, but I thought the show was 75% corny jokes and only 25% makeup and special effects. One of the hosts went into the audience to pick out someone to volunteer to be in the show, and wound up choosing a woman from Nicaragua who could not speak English. She tried to decline participating because she couldn’t speak English, but the host insisted she volunteer. I have to say that choosing someone who didn’t speak English made the show a bit less enjoyable--the hosts were having a hard time communicating with her, and she wasn’t always sure what she should be doing.

After the show, we headed over to ET. I have the worst luck with this attraction. Every time I go to ride it for the first time, it seems to be broken down, and I have to head back there later to try to ride it. Well, this time was a different story!  It was working when we arrived! We were on the ride pretty quickly using our Express Pass. This ride is a bit dated, but it’s still fun. As we rode our bikes over the city, I felt like we were flying over London in our boat on Peter Pan.

We then headed over to the Simpsons ride. We had a bit of a wait in the hot sun when we used our express pass, but we were soon in the holding area. I love watching the movies with Apu, and janitor Willy that they show in the holding area. I really think they did a fantastic job on the theming of the ride, and the holding area and pre-show movies. The ride itself is a lot of fun. I love the way that they poke fun at the other Orlando area theme parks in the film.

We then headed over to Men In Black to fight the aliens and save the world! Once again, we got on the ride pretty quickly using our express pass (unlimited express pass is a great benefit of staying at a Universal resort). When we were seated in our ride vehicle, and waiting for it to leave the loading area, I pointed my gun in the direction of the guy who was sending the vehicles out, and asked another team member if we got bonus points for shooting that guy. The team member obviously had no sense of humor, as he looked at me with a confused look on his face and said, “It won’t really do anything yet. The guns aren’t on.”

After successfully killing all the aliens, we had bigger fish to fry--a large shark named Jaws, to be exact. We boarded a boat at Amityville, and were soon cruising the ocean as Jaws tried to attack us and tip our boat. But thanks to our trusty captain, we were successfully made it through our cruise and were safely back on dry land.

We made our way over to Disaster to see what time the next show was, and it was going to be about 20 minutes, so we decided to head over to the Mummy. This is a great fast moving coaster. There aren’t really any big drops, but there are some neat stops, starts, twists, and turns that keep you guessing. It’s a short ride, but they did a fantastic job on it considering the space they had available to make this coaster.

After the Mummy, we headed back over to Disaster. This was one show that I told Krista was a must see on the trip. Big time director Frank Kincaid casted us, and the rest of the people in the theatre to be extras in his new movie “Mutha Nature.” We met with Mr. Kincaid, and watched some scenes being filmed before filming a couple of scenes ourselves. This show is worth checking out just to see Frank Kincaid with your own eyes. He’s really amazing to see.

It was close to park closing time, and we had hit all of our main attractions in less than four hours. I was hoping to get a ride on the Rickety Rackety Ripoff, er, I mean Rip Ride Rockit, but the line was long and I didn’t feel like waiting in it, so that would have to wait for tomorrow.

Krista and I then walked over to Walgreens, which was about a mile from the front gate of Universal Studios. Since Krista’s flight was late, we had to forgo our grocery stop, so we wanted to get some water, and I wanted to look at the pay as you go cell phones. We picked up some water, and muffins, but I decided to skip the pay as you go cell phone.

We then called a cab, and had the driver drop us off at the Royal Pacific, where we would be having dinner at Tchoup Chop. We were a bit early for our reservation, but we were seated right away. I really love the atmosphere in this restaurant. The soft lighting makes the restaurant so soothing, and I love the open kitchen. The bar is very eye catching as well with a large array of colorful bottles.

September is Magical Dining Month in Orlando, and Tchoup Chop had a three course meal for $30. Krista and I both decided to take advantage of this deal as it was just too good to pass up. We both started off with the Crispy Kalua Chicken Egg Rolls with orange-chile dipping sauce. I first had these egg rolls when I went to Tchoup Chop back in December, and as my friend Diane realized that night, these are the egg rolls that Jesus would love. They are crispy, and delicious. The dipping sauce is tangy with a slight kick. They are the best egg rolls I’ve ever had in my life.

For my main course, I ordered Herb Broiled Free Range Chicken in a sake mustard reduction sauce, which was served with kimchee fried rice. The chicken was delicious. It was very tender and juicy. The fried rice had a lot of flavor, and was very light. I would definitely order this dish again.

Krista ordered the Beer Braised Short Ribs with veal au jus, which was served with onion mashed potatoes. I tried a piece of the short ribs, and it was very tender. You could definitely taste the beer in the meat.

The dessert of the day was a flourless chocolate cake, which was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. There were two small individual chocolate cake pieces. The cake was very rich and had the consistency of a piece of fudge. Although it was very tasty, it was a bit too rich for me, and I was so full from my meal that I could only eat a couple of bites of it. The vanilla ice cream was the best vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had, very smooth and creamy.

After dinner, we took the boat to the City Walk, and then walked back to the Portofino Bay from there. This time, we followed the path all the way to the resort. It was about a mile from the security check point just outside of City Walk to the Portofino boat dock. It was a pleasant walk, and much needed after our delicious dinner.

We had both been up since about 5:00 a.m. so we were pretty tired by the time we got back to the resort, so we got ready for bed. We had only been in Orlando about 9 hours, and we had already had a full day. And we still had six more days of fun ahead of us.

United We Remember--Part 4--Remembering the Spirit

As I mentioned in a previous part of my September 11th blog, one of the things that struck me the most was the spirit of our country in the weeks after the attacks. People seemed a lot more patient and kind with each other. People let their American pride show through their words, dress, and actions. We were all moved by these events and we treated everyone with a bit more respect for a few weeks. Even crime seemed to drop in the weeks after the attacks.

I really wish that we could get some of that spirit back in our country. When I watched the Stanley Cup finals this year, I was so impressed with the crowd at the games in Vancouver. Every person in that arena showed their love and pride for their country by loudly singing along to their national anthem. They also showed respect as our national anthem was played. While some people in Boston were singing, it was no where near as loud and proud as the voices of the Vancouverites.

I wish that we would show that kind of pride when our national anthem is played. We should all stand proud, place our hands over our hearts, and sing our national anthem loudly and proudly so everyone can see. We should do this every time we hear it as a show of support and honor for the vicitims of September 11th, the service men and woman who lost their lives fighting for our freedom, and also the service men and woman who continue to fight for us. We should do this to show those who want to attack us for our freedoms that we are strong as a country, and we won't let them bring us down.

God Bless America!

United We Remember--Part 3--Remembering My Trip To New York City

In mid-October of 2001, I took a weekend trip to New York City with my friend Leah. This trip had been planned long before the attacks of September 11^th so that we could do some sightseeing and see on my favorite actors, Ethan Hawke, in an off-Broadway play. I had planned on taking Leah to the World Trade Center Observation Deck on the trip, and we had both been excited to go there. We would still make the trip to the World Trade Center, but it would be a very different plan than we originally made.

On the first day our trip, we went to the Empire State Building. It made me so sad to look downtown in the direction of World Trade Center, and not see the buildings anymore. It just didn’t seem possible that the massive skyscrapers collapsed into a pile of rubble in just a few minutes time. I glanced at the Statue of Liberty, and thought about all of the hope that she brings to our country. And then I looked at the site where the World Trade Center had stood, and thought about the hopeless and despair brought upon our country by the senseless terrorist attacks on September 11^th. Here it was, a month after the attacks, and I was standing on the observation deck at another mighty New York City skyscraper still wondering how attacks of this magnitude happened on U.S. soil.

Even though the Empire State Building is a few miles from Ground Zero, we could clearly see the site from the observation deck. We could see smoke coming up from the site, and water being sprayed on the debris. My heart broke as I stood out the window looking at the site. So many innocent lives had been lost that day. We lost so many heroes who bravely ran into those buildings as thousands of others ran out of the buildings on September 11^th. As I stood there staring at the site, I prayed for the victims and their families.  I prayed for the men and women working to clear the debris so that the remains of those who had been lost could be returned to their families so they could have proper burials.  

The next morning, Leah and I took the subway down to Ground Zero, or as close to Ground Zero as we could by subway. The stop was a few blocks away from Ground Zero, and one of the first things we came upon as we stepped out of the station was St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church. The church had suffered some damage in the attacks, but its doors were open for worshippers. I decided that we should make a stop in the church to so we could say a prayer for the victims and their families, and light some candles in their memories.

As we made our way to Ground Zero, I noticed all of the stores and restaurants in the surrounding buildings that were closed for business. One of the stores that stood out to me was a small Hallmark Greeting Card Store. I spent a long time peering through the window of the empty show. There were stuffed animals and cards strewn about the store. It looked like the store hadn’t been entered since the attacks. I couldn’t help but wonder about the person who owned that shop. That store was probably that person’s livelihood—something that the owner worked hard to make successful and profitable. And now, the store stood empty after the senseless acts of terrorism.

Looking at this store made me realize that these attacks affected more than just the victims of the attacks. This Hallmark Store was one of many stores in the vicinity of Ground Zero that remained closed a month after the attacks. I couldn’t help but wonder about the people who owned these shops. Were they hurt or killed in the attacks? Would they be able to rebuild their businesses after the attacks? I said a silent prayer for the shop owners as I looked through the windows of that Hallmark shop, hoping that they would all be back in business one day soon.

As we walked closer to Ground Zero, I noticed tributes to some of the victims. Family members and friends had placed pictures and stories about their loved ones on fences, and buildings. Some of the pictures were of one of the victims with their families. It was so overwhelming to read the stories, and look at the pictures. The tributes made the victims more real to me. It was moving to learn a bit about some of the victims through the tributes made by the people who loved them. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have a family member taken from you in such a tragic way. I couldn’t imagine the heartache and pain that these families must have been going through.

We finally made our way to the site of the World Trade Center, and seeing it with my own eyes was difficult. It was just so surreal to look at the piles of rubble that was once two gigantic skyscrapers that was the workplace for thousands and thousands of workers. It was overwhelming to think that I was staring at the location where thousands of people breathed their last breaths. It was overwhelming to know that there were still thousands of bodies somewhere in that rubble. Thinking about it now, as I write this 10 years later, I am overwhelmed by the thought of visiting Ground Zero just a month after the attacks.

As overwhelming as visiting Ground Zero was, I was glad that I went. Seeing the site with my own eyes was so much more powerful than looking at it on television. It gave me a better understanding of the magnitude of the attacks. I was also grateful to have the opportunity to pay my respects to the victims of the attacks in person.

After walking around the site reading the tributes to the victims and viewing the devastation, Leah and I started walking back towards the subway station. I decided that I wanted to make another stop in St. Peter’s to say another prayer. 

During my next visit to New York in 2002, I made another journey down to Ground Zero to see how the recovery and cleanup was going.  Once again, my first stop was St. Peter’s to say a prayer and light a candle in memory of the victims. Nearly a year had passed since my first visit to Ground Zero, and seeing it was still as overwhelming as the first visit. But this time, I saw something that gave me hope, and renewed my faith.

I was wandered around, I walked past the Hallmark Greeting Card Store that had made a huge impact on me back in October, and it was opened to business. And business was booming. I could see many people in the store shopping for card and gifts. I was so excited to see the store open that I had to go in and make a purchase. I was so excited to see this little shop reopened that I wanted to do something to support the business.

As I walked out of the shop with my purchase, for the first time since September 11^th, 2001, I knew that we would overcome this. If this little card shop could rebuild and prosper in the aftermath of these attacks, so should our country. I walked back to the subway with more hope than I had since the attacks.

United We Remember—Part 2—Remembering the Aftermath

On September 12, 2001, like the rest of America, I woke up to uncertainty in our new world. The events of September 11^th were just so unbelievable to me. It was like I was stuck in an action movie witnessing horror beyond my wildest imagination. The memories and emotions were just so raw and cut right through me.

The next several days, coverage of the attacks was the only thing on the television. The images and stories were just heart wrenching. It was tough to watch the TV when they showed Ground Zero, just knowing that so many perished in those buildings. But I felt that I had to watch, and I had to pray for those who had lost their lives. I also prayed that any survivors would be pulled from the wreckage as soon as possible.

Even more heart wrenching than watching the images of the crash sites was seeing the families and friends of missing people trying to get their missing loved ones names and faces out there in hopes that they could be located. So many families were on TV holding pictures of loved ones who were missing, just hoping that someone had seen them alive. They were clinging on to that hope that their loved ones would be pulled from Ground Zero, or located in a hospital.

It was reported that a former Boston Bruins player Garnet “Ace” Bailey was on one of the planes that crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. I had met Ace a few years before the attack at a Boston Bruins event, and hearing that he had been on one of the planes made the attacks seems even more real to me. Although I spent less than a minute interacting with Ace, it was enough to put a face and a personality behind one of the victims of the attacks. It was so surreal to think that a Bruins legend who I had spoken to and posed for a picture with was a victim of the attacks.

The more I watched the news, the more fearful I felt. There was just so much uncertainty, and I was afraid of what the world would be like in the coming weeks and months. I remember being really concerned for my nieces and nephews, who ranged in age from six to twelve. I was afraid that they would have to grow in living in fear of other attacks on U.S. soil. I prayed for them, and their future.

Amidst all the stories of loss, I heard a couple of stories of people who could have died that day, but a single decision kept them safe. A co-worker’s son worked in the World Trade Center, and he was running a bit late for work that day. Since he was already late, he decided to make a detour to pick up some Krispy Kreme donuts. His craving for a donut probably saved his life. If he hadn’t stopped to get some donuts, he would have been at his desk on a floor above impact in one of the World Trade Center Towers.

A friend of mine knew someone who worked in the second tower. The people working in that tower were told that there was no need for them to evacuate the building. This man had been in the federal building that had been bombed six years earlier in Oklahoma City, and he remembered the chaos involved with that event. He didn’t want to live through that chaos again, so he gathered his co-workers and told them that they should evacuate even though they had been told they didn’t need to leave the building. The man in his co-workers made it safely out of the building just 15 minutes before the building collapsed.

In the days after the attacks, I felt extremely helpless. Although I donated money and supplies to the cause, I still wished that there was more that I could do to help. I needed something to make me feel like I was doing something to help, and to show my American pride. I came up with a project that would allow me to show my pride in my country, and hopefully something that would allow others to do the same. I printed out hundreds of business cards with an American flag with the words “United We Stand” above it on one side, and the words to “God Bless America” on the other side. I then laminated them with clear contact paper, and handed them out to my friends, family, co-workers, and complete strangers. Making the business cards was very therapeutic for me. It gave me something to do that would allow others to carry the American flag with them wherever they went.

One thing that amazed me was the spirit of the country in the days and weeks after the attacks. People seemed a lot kinder, and we seemed stronger as a nation. United We Stand became the catchphrase for the country, and we truly did seem to be more united after the attacks. Everyone was showing their American pride. Flags were flying in front of more houses than usual, and many people even put flags on their cars. We were all united in our concern for the victims of the attacks, and our love for our country. Everyone seemed even prouder to be an American.

The Friday after the attacks, word spread around the country that people should join together with their neighbors to hold a moment of silence for those who lost their lives. Some of my neighbors and I decided that we would print out notices and invite everyone on our street to meet at the intersection in the middle of our street that night. We walked from door to door and left the notices at in every mailbox.

As the gathering time approached, my neighbors came out of their houses to join us. Many neighbors who I had never met came out to join us, and a handful of people came from neighboring streets to after they heard that we would be gathering. The drivers of two cars who just happened to be driving by at the time we were gathering parked their cards and joined us.

We had about 40 people on the street corner that night. There was so much love, and pride in the group that night. Some people brought candles. Others proudly waved American flags. We were all there to show our solidarity as Americans. We were all there to show our sympathy and support to the victims of the attacks, and their families. We all there to show our support to the rescue and recovery teams at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania. We were all there to show our support for the police officers, fire fighters, and service men and woman who would be protecting our county in this time of uncertainty.

One of my neighbors asked me to lead our gathering in our ceremony. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I made a brief statement thanking everyone for joining us. I asked everyone to join me in a moment of silence in honor of the victims. After our moment of silence, we joined together to sing “God Bless America.” I don’t think there was a dry eye in our group. We lingered on the street corner chatting, and hugging, and getting to know our neighbors a little better. Just as our nation became stronger as the result of the attacks, our neighborhood also became stronger.

I found so much strength and hope in the gathering that night. United we stood on my street, honoring those who lost their lives, just like others were doing at the same time all around our country that night. We would unite, and show the terrorist that they may have put a crack in our spirit, but it wasn’t broken. We would come out of this a stronger nation, and we would not fear them.

United We Remember--Part One--Remembering the Day

Note: When I started writing this blog, I planned on just writing one piece about the event, but I soon realized that I had a lot more to say about it. This is part one of what I am expecting to be a four part blog that I will be posting over the next several days. Here is a brief description about what I plan to write about in each post:

Part 1:  Remembering the Day—This post will be about how I heard about the attacks, and what I remember feeling and thinking that day.

Part 2:  Remembering the Aftermath—This post will be about what I remember of the spirit of our country in the weeks after the attack. I will also share a couple of survival stories from that day.

Part 3: Remembering My Visit to New York—This post will be about my trip to New York six weeks after the attacks.

Part 4:  Remembering the Spirit—I do not want to give a description for this one.  You’ll just have to wait to read it.

So, here is part one of my September 11^th blog.

God Bless America

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Tomorrow marks the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since the day when we witnessed the shocking attacks that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on four airplanes.

They say that you will always remember what you were doing when a shocking tragedy occurs. I can remember using the mimeograph machine in the school office at my grammar school when I heard about the space shuttle Challenger blowing up, and I can remember being sick with food poisoning in a hotel room in New York City when I heard that Princess Diana died.

On September 11, 2001, I was in my office scanning the radio stations to find some tunes when I heard the phrase “an airplane has crashed into the World Trade Center.” I quickly scanned back to hear what was going on, and oddly enough, the station was actually the local station that aired the Howard Stern Show at the time. Yes, I heard about the 9/11 attacks on the Howard Stern Show of all places! I wound up staying with the station because they actually were doing an excellent job of reporting the events of that day with a raw emotion that you don’t get from a seasoned reporter. Howard and his crew were witnesses to the events just like all of us, and the spoke with a frankness and emotion that you didn’t get from the seasoned newscasters.

When I heard the news, I wound up calling my co-worker Abbi to tell her about the plane crashing. She was a bit confused at first when I told her, as she thought I was referring to the World Trade Center in Boston, which is only a couple of miles across the harbor from Logan Airport. At the time of that conversation, only one plane had struck, so we assumed it was a plane that ran into a mechanical problem.

As we listened to the news, and heard about the other planes crashing, we were shocked to the core to realize that such a major terrorist attack was happening on U.S. soil. The news circulated quickly around the office, and everyone was shocked and saddened by the news. I remember being really angry by the news. How could this happen here, in the U.S.? This kind of stuff wasn’t supposed to happen here.

I remember the tension and fear in my office that morning. We were all sad, confused, and angry. Over the next hour as we heard about each plane crashing, we became more and more concerned.  I think everyone was thinking: Would there be more attacks and could there be attacks in our city of Boston? Everyone really wanted to get home to be with their families.

We were all shocked when we heard that another plane had hit the Pentagon. It was frightening to think that the building that held the headquarters of the Department of Defense was attacked. I couldn’t help but think how tense it must have been in that building that morning. The brave men and woman in that building must have been working out what needed to be done to protect our country after the attacks on the World Trade Center when the plane crashed into that building.

Perhaps some of the most amazing and brave men and woman were the ones who were on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. It was rumored that plane was headed towards the White House, or the Capitol Building, but some brave souls had something else in mind. The stood up to the terrorists, and fought back.  Forty people perished in that plane on September 11^th, but if they didn’t stand up to the terrorists, who knows how many more lives would have been lost that day. The passengers on that plane are heroes for all of us.

At some point that morning, my office, like so many offices in the city of Boston and across the country closed. It was a very confusing time with all of the news and misinformation surrounding the attacks. There was much talk about other planes that could have been overtaken by terrorists, or even attacks on the ground in some of our country’s major cities. Most offices closed that morning because no one wanted to be the employer that kept their employees working if there was going to be another attack.

With all of the rumors swirling around regarding the attacks, and rumors that there could be other targets, I didn’t really want to get on the subway that day. One of my co-workers, Lyra, lived in the same city as I did, and she didn’t really want to get on the subway either. We decided that we would walk three miles to a subway station where we could get a bus home.

When Lyra and I got outside, we soon realized that we weren’t the only ones trying to get home. The traffic on the streets of Boston was at a standstill. It was worse than I ever recalled seeing. I don’t remember ever seeing traffic on the side streets backed up even at the start of a holiday weekend. People seemed a lot more patient than they usually are when they are stuck in the traffic--no one was beeping their horn, or shouting obscenities at other drivers to get moving. Drivers seemed to realize that everyone was in a hurry that day, and everyone had the same important purpose--to get home to their families.

I was very grateful to have someone to walk with that day. I was scared and sad, and it was nice to have company on the journey to discuss the events with, and express my fears and concerns. I recall how quiet the streets were despite the traffic. The skies seemed a bit eerie because the commercial and private planes were grounded. It was very bizarre to be walking parallel to one of the major flight paths used by planes taking off from Logan Airport, and not seeing or hearing any planes. The only planes that we saw on our walk were a few fighter jets. Although the fighter jets should have been a comfort in a time of extreme turmoil and terror in our country, they made me even more nervous.

Lyra and I soon made it to the subway station, and caught buses home. I wound up taking a bus that dropped me off in the center of my city, and walked home from there. I was so grateful to be home with my parents, and safe in my home.

Like every other American, my television was tuned into the coverage of the events. As much as the images disturbed and shocked me, I couldn’t turn away from the television. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I watched the World Trade Center towers burn, and eventually collapse. It was just unfathomable that a skyscraper could collapse and compact like it was made out of cards.

Even more shocking was hearing the stories of people who were trapped above the point of impact with no way to get out of the building. Some of them decided to take their fate into their own hands and jump out of the building rather than wait for the fire to reach them, or perhaps help to reach them. I can’t imagine what their fear must like to make that choice in this situation.

A few years before the attacks, I went to observation deck the World Trade Center during a trip to New York, and it was so strange to think that the building that had awed me so much was now gone. I had always recommended a trip to the observation deck to people on their trips to New York because I thought the view was more breathtaking than the view from the Empire State Building. The observation deck had benches that you could sit in and let your feet swing freely over some glass windows. I sat in one of those benches for a long time, just looking at the Statue of Liberty. It was truly a beautiful sight to take in.  

And on September 11^th, it hit me that no one else would be able to go to the top of that building and look at the Statue of Liberty. No one would be able to walk to the windows on the opposite side and see the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. No man would take his girlfriend to the observation deck and propose. No one could look out those windows at Ellis Island and remember that their ancestors once passed through there on their journey to the United States.

I had also toured the Pentagon a few years before the attacks. The Pentagon is truly a remarkable building. It is just massive, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the design. It was interesting to see the five rings within the Pentagon, and also the shopping area built right in as a convenience for the employees. Visiting the Pentagon was my favorite part of my first visit to Washington, D.C.

And on September 11, 2001, the twin towers were no more. The Pentagon suffered major damage. Four planes had crashed.  And the lives and spirits of every American would be changed forever.