ny trip - day two

Our first full day in the city that never sleeps. Greg and I got up at the butt crack of dawn (officially 5am) and drove to pickup our coworker Becky from the Newark airport. Keep in mind we went to bed at 2am. For you math majors = 3 hours of completely useless non-REM sleep.

Thanks be to my Lord and Savior for the creation of caffeine.

We drove into Manhattan and visited the original church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination. I grew up in the CMA. My dad was a CMA pastor. I went to a CMA college. I now work at a CMA church. It was pretty sweet to see our roots and to see how a small passion in the heart of a brash and bold preacher grew to literally change our world. The church is now a pizzeria.

So instead of a sermon, we received the ministry of pizza.

We split up into 2 groups after that and one went to the Ground Zero Museum. A-maz-ing. Pictures and artifacts from the rescue and recovery operation after the towers fell. CHILLS ON THE BACK OF YOUR NECK ALERT: There was a clock that was located underneath the towers that stopped when tower one fell and it still reads the exact time (right down to the seconds).

Then we visited Ground Zero where they are finally starting to build the memorial building. We visited St. Paul's Chapel which was directly next to the towers and served as a safe place/cafeteria/sleeping quarters/counseling room for the rescue workers. To see how people came together after 9-11, how they loved on each other, how this church served as heaven's outpost...makes me proud.

The rest of the night was spent eating dinner, walking to Rockefeller Center (we didn't see anybody famous), walking to Grand Central Station, and back to Time Square.

Thoughts.

1. Don't eat at HB Burgers if you go to New York. I don't usually call for an all out boycott of businesses, but not only did our server walk by our empty drinks all night, but he FORGOT MY STINKING RANCH!

2. I got a whole new respect for the pandemonium that must have ensued after the plains hit the towers. People were everywhere. And you add a terrorist attack to the mix...

3. I love driving in New York City. I honked twice tonight, almost hit 4 pedestrians, tailgated a taxi cab, cut in front of 4 cars to change lanes (without using my blinker), got back to our hotel without the use of a GPS system, and did it all while humming "Bohemian Rhapsody" to myself.