6:45 and we're up. We all trek down to Cadance's Blue School to meet her teachers and see what she's done in class. It's a really neat place! Lot's of learning by doing, which as I've said before, is my favorite type of learning. We met one of the original blue men there, too. Cadance is good friends with his son, so even though we were technically meeting "a famous person," I just knew him as scouty's dad.
Ali left to go to her cousins for the rest of the weekend, and James went to school, leaving Duncan, Hazel, Kate and I to mosey around downtown. We attempted seeing the 9/11 memorial, but never found a way in. We did look down on it, through a raised walkway. That was good enough for me. I think I just needed to see that it wasn't ruble anymore. The last time I visited that spot it was a very gray and dusty place.
We did visit the little museum type visitors center that was right next to the memorial. They had a video playing about the memorial and a few stories of the heroes and some artifacts. One of those artifacts was a recovered wallet, along with a wedding band that was also found in the rubble. I looked over those items and began to read the note that described them but didn't get to finish because I was suddenly overcome with despair. I had to turn around and force myself not to start sobbing. And then I began to wonder how everyone else was so composed. It wasn't an elaborate museum, but nevertheless there's these items that survived the crash when their owner didn't. And, and maybe it was all of it. Maybe it wasn't just that man's belongings, those are just what triggered it. But I felt 9/11 then. I felt how I would've felt 10 years ago when it happened, if I had understood. That was a little shocking. I wasn't expecting that emotional response at all.
But once I was able to compose myself, we moved on and looked at the seaport and the old mob-run fish market. We also ate lunch at Made Fresh Daily, a slow food restaurant that serves amazing food! Since being on the farm I've gained more appreciation for places like this. I really don't understand why restaurants would be any different.
I am for slow food America.
Oh yeah! we also went to the wall street protests!
After picking Cadance up, we took a ferry to Brooklyn, but then Duncan and I got off early and walked across the bridge so that we'd have plenty of time to meet Michelle at grand central, which truly is grand! Once we all met up and were settled into the apartment, we made plans for that night. It was Michelle's first time in the city so we had to bring her to tourist mania, aka Times Square. We went ot Stardust for dinner since Duncan was going coo coo over that place and listened to mediocre karaoke while eating tasty, yet still way over-priced food. All my friends may love that place, but I do not. I personally agree with my sister on this one. But hey, a tourist trap is indeed a trap and it seems to be working. I'm all for my friends being gung-ho about it, I just hope to never eat there again.
I felt kind of the same way about Times Square, which is how I know I've past the tourist phase and have now just become a "New Yorker" so to speak. Walking down 34 st was no longer awe inspiring, it was just annoying and crowded, with materialism in giant capitalized blinking scrolling shiny letters. I was fine being there though since it was Michelle's first visit, and I remember my first time with the lights…it was almost magical. So I wanted to give her the same experience.
We did stop in Toys R' Us, and I showed them around while visiting my own memories of being there. It hasn't changed much in 9 years, only I have. Unfortunately, I am still afraid of the giant moving T-Rex on the lowest level. 
We somehow ended up at Hooters at the end of the night which just totally compromised my morals. It was more degrading than I had even imagined, and ultimately just made me angry at the women working there and our country for allowing such a place to exist. We spent our time there with Duncan's West Point friends and then eventually found our way back to the apartment, finally crashing asleep around 3:30 am
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