I had just come back from NYC a week before the attacks. I was in high school at the time, and had summer reading as an assignment that I decided to do while I spent most of July and August in New York. The World Trade Center had a mall underneath the structures, and I bought the books, Madame Bovary and The Things They Carried, from a D.Dalton there. For some reason I saved the receipt- which is hanging in my room to this day as an eerie reminder of how close things could have been. For weeks I wondered if there were terrorist scouts with me on trains, at that mall, behind me in line. I wondered if the courteous salesperson had died, or maybe didn't have to work that day.
I woke up to that morning of September 11th with my dad telling me the Trade Center was on fire, a plane had hit it. Minutes later, I saw the second. Not long after that, the Towers fell. It's giving me chills just typing about it. I don't think I went to school that day. I'll never, ever forget the way I felt that day, and the link that I have hanging framed in my bedroom.
If you didn't read it, here's Bryan's view of 9/11 that I posted here a couple weeks ago.
Nichole remembers waking up to a call from a friend saying to "not go to work today, the Twin Towers are on fire." She got up, walked to her view of the NYC skyline (she was living in Jersey at the time), and saw the second plane hit. Seeing her choke up telling the story was something you can't describe in blogs, or even in person. You just had to be there.
After dinner, we headed back to the apartment for the best wind-down DVD, ever.
DAY TWO
First stop, Chinatown.
"How many times do I have to tell you? It's a DOCTOR'S OFFICE! Not a RESTAURANT!"
What to eat, what to eat?
Ding! Meat on stick! Two please!
Bryan was pleading with me to go with a Duck Dessert. Regretfully, I declined.
Stopped by the Volcom Store in Soho- RIP Shane Cross.
After a breif stop at Grand Central Station...
...it was off to Times Square, where the WWE merch had it's own section at the Toys R Us, much to our delight.
Yeah he's totally got a blog now.
It's calling our name...
A quick lunch at Tad's...
...before our first closed shoot in Central Park.
Check out our set PA..
...and me following suit.
You know, you'll find a lot in Central Park...
Dirty gnomes...
Men taking pictures of undressed men...
Snooty, members only croquet clubs...
Chess players (guess what color the black guy was?)...
You'll even find Strawberry Fields, if you look close enough.
The people turning a profit off it...
And the people who love conspiracies.
Then it was off to Baseball Game Number 1: Shea Stadium, Mets vs. Nationals.
A look at the brand new CitiField, opening April '09.
After a brief tour of the Home Clubhouse...
..and virtual tour of the stadium...
...it was time to catch our seats. You can't beat 5 dollar seats at Shea. You just can't.
We even got to see some history.
Mike Pelfrey, aka Ryan Rudaitis.
After the game, it was back to Times Square to get a bite to eat.
Is, is that...is that Vlad?
We settled on St. Andrews Scottish Pub.
Why? Because they had Yuengling on tap, that's why.
Tastiest meal I've had in awhile, that's for sure. Gotta love washing down anything with that refreshing Yuengling. I'd bathe in it if I could.
Exhausted, we called it a night. But not before we spotter our friend in the new Juxtapoz magazine!
Whoa! We're sleeping in her pad!
Days three and four, coming soon...
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