Just a few show notes before I begin. First I'd like to mention these images were taken September 18, 2011 shortly after the museum opened on September 11, 2011. It took 5 years to construct and it was one of those NYC projects I thought would never get done. Secondly, toward the end of the post I'l share with you guys where I was on 9/11/01 and what I experienced. So lets get started...

Just outside the entrance there's a beautiful commemorative memorial. I think it's made out of bronze, but either way there was a gentleman earnestly polishing the wall. I hesitantly say "earnestly" as I don't remember if he was working for a tip.

And upon further review my suspicions were correct!

Perhaps he was going to donate the money to a good cause - but I guess we'll never know.

Now living in New York City, there always seems to be a major project or two that seemingly will never get done. And one of those projects was 1 World Trade Center. At the time I shot these photos it was almost completed. Be sure to check out the link toward the end of this post as I'll share a Steemit post that documented my first trip there!

So off we went and I don't know if they were rushing to get it open on the 10 year anniversary, but if memory serves me - it wasn't 100% completed. As can be seen by the fences and concrete guardrails.

As can be expected nowadays one has to go through airport level of security before being allowed to go in. Once we got through security it looked much like any other really nice park.

Now these pools are where the Twin Towers used to stand...

On the outskirts of the pools the names of people that lost their lives on 9/11/01 are memorialized...

It's a really nice Museum and it's worth going to at least once in your life. I don't know if they charge an admission and I'll also say that it's a very somber place. I guess because the wounds are still fresh. Unlike going to Washington DC, many of the memorials there are from events that took place many, many decades ago.

So where was I on September 11th 2001?

Well on the morning of 9/11/01 I woke up around 8:30am to get ready for work. I remember vividly at 8:46am the first plane hit. I was watching NY1 (a New York centric cable news network) and I was like HOLY SHIT! I woke up my girlfriend at the time to show her the tv. I thought it was an accident - but when the second plane hit I knew it was terrorism.

So guess what Mikey Colon did that morning? If you guessed head to Manhattan just to be a part of the experience (for lack of a better phrase) you guessed right. At the time I lived in Jackson Heights Queens NYC, about a 30 minute subway ride to the city. I worked as a teen counselor at the YMCA on west 63rd street in Manhattan and I knew work would be called off. But for whatever reason I felt compelled to head to the city. I took a quick shower and hopped on the 7 subway line.

The 7 line is an elevated train, unlike the majority of the subways. Here's a shot I snapped with my phone a few weeks ago...

Once I got on the train I could see the smoke coming from the Twin Towers. In retrospect I don't know why I didn't bring a camera. But I did bring my Sony portable radio. At the time it was the only way to get real-time information as to what was going on. This was before smart phones so this is what I had:

On the train there were several police officers rushing to the city and I could hear the frantic chatter on comms. As for the other passengers everyone was in a panic and several people could be seen crying. As for what was being said on AM radio - no one had the exact details. Everyone was trying to piece things together. Once the 7 line passes the Queens Plaza stop it goes underground so I could no longer hear the radio. Once I transferred trains - it was pretty much the same chaotic scene.

I finally made it to my job and no one knew what was going on. Everyone was urged to stay but after about a half an hour everyone was told to go home. Once I got outside I headed back to the train station and that's when the plane hit the Pentagon. This was another WTF moment to say the least. I figured it was best to get home as who knew what was going to happen next. Once I made it to the train station - the entire transit system was shut down. Great - how was I supposed to get home now? The only thing I can do was start walking home.

Luckily by the time I got the 59th Street Bridge someone opened up their box truck and gave people a lift in the back. This ride was pretty scary as the thought of a missile striking the bridge wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility - I just wanted to get to the other side - and I did.

Plus now that I think about it - the days leading up to 9/11 were pretty unseasonably crumby. The past few days were raining and drab. But on 9/11 it was a super clear day. Even though I couldn't directly see downtown Manhattan the smoke was clearly visbile the entire walk home.

As for the rest of the day, it's kind of a blur. My mom thankfully survived - especially given the fact she was walking distance from the Towers. If you're wondering if I lost anyone I knew personally and the answer is no - everyone was ok.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions as to what really happened that day. I don't want to get into it now - but I will say it was a conspiracy against the American people. One of Trumps promises was that he'll find out what happened and let the world know. He came with releasing the JFK documents so we'll see - fingers crossed.

BONUS CONTENT

As you can imagine, there were several graffiti murals that popped up around New York City after the events of September 11th. Here are some of my favorite pictures that I've taken:

ON A FINAL NOTE

I encourage you to take a moment and check out this Steemit post. It's titled "24 Hours in New York City - 39 Years in the Making" and it covers my experience visiting 1 World Trade Center for the first time. If you liked this post - I can assure you'll love this post! CLICK HERE or the image below...

Posted from my blog - check out colonphoto.com for more!