Remembering 9/11

 

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that took place in New York and in Washington, D.C. It was my junior year in high school and I remember that morning starting out pretty good for me. I even remember laughing at a couple of people during my first hour study hall period, and afterwards, I felt deeply guilty for having those feelings, since the events in New York had just happened. I didn't know about what had happened until an hour or so later, while I was waiting for my next class to start, and someone poked their head into the room and told me about a plan hitting one of the World Trade Center towers. I didn't know what to make of it, until class started and our teacher gave us the details of what was happening. After watching the news cast later on in one of my classes, a history class no less, I was in a daze and barely felt like playing tennis in my PE class.

Soon after the attacks, I stopped caring about it, because just seeing the horrific scenes, especially that of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center towerand the constant chatter regarding it all, made me sick to my stomach and simply made me hollow inside. I wanted to forget about it all, and just live my life as best as possible, in this new world of ours, not knowing if another horrific disaster was around the corner. I had to forget, because I couldn't get a proper sleep for many days. Before 9/11, the world to me was simply out there, a massive place. That logic soon changed and I laid in bed that night, listening for sirens or something else, wondering if Chicago, only 80 miles away, was next.

As time passed and life kept going, I too decided to move on to other things. That kept me going. Otherwise, I would have become a deeply paranoid soul.

Last year, I started to gain a renewed interest in what was taking place at Ground Zero, especially with the making of the 9/11 Memorial. I had hoped to be able to see what was taking place at the World Trade Center site when me and my wife visited New York City last year in August. But, the day we decided to visit lower Manhattan, it was a very rainy day and with the threat of rain and the chaos of traffic, people, and construction, I only got a glimpse of the site as we zoom passed in our taxi on our way to take a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Me and my wife both vow to visit the 9/11 Memorial when we head back to New York City, and see the massive emptiness of where the towers once stood, thanks to the whole design of it.

Speaking of the 9/11 Memorial design, seeing how the water cascades down into the pit, with everyone's names along the edge, I though up of a much more moving design that would speak volumes to people. Instead of all the names along the top along the edge and water within the footprints, why not have them on the "walls" along the footprints, and the water gently flowing over and through the victims names and people be able to walk around those footprints and touch the wall. It would be a mix of Jerusalem's Wailing Wall and the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. But, I realize that it wouldn't be all that feasible, because it would involve having to put some sort of elevator/stair system to get all those people in that area and also destroy the sacred space of where thousands of lives were lost.

A pier leading to where the towers once stood.

I felt a loss of words as I stood there, looking at the picture, seeing the Twin Towers

Roadside Attraction Preservation

Way back in September 2007, I decided to make a trip into the suburbs of Chicago to see for myself a piece of pop culture wackiness, because there were reports that it was going to be taken down and replaced by a Walgreens of all things. The Spindle, created in 1989, and featured in the film Wayne's World, and found on the cover of a book, on postcards, state tourist brochures, and maps, is just one of those weird things you never saw every day, well, unless you lived in Berwyn, Illinois.

 

I knew my window of opportunity to see the car art was beginning to be very small after I had read online that during the summer, members of Chicago Critical Mass had rode their bikes to the Spindle to raise awareness of the sculpture and hopefully get people to try and keep it up. There were 2,000 cyclists who took part in the nearly 15 mile ride from Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago to support the artwork.

I spent part of the time mostly in nearby Oak Park, exploring the neighborhood around Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous house and just to see what I could find to add to my collection of pictures. I finally had enough and hitched a ride on a city bus to get me to the shopping center were the Spindle was. It was a bit strange to walk towards the sculpture in a vast parking lot. But, I found it deeply fascinating to look at, and took several pictures to show that it was here. 

Sadly, the cars were taken away and the spindle removed on May 2, 2008 – never to be seen again.

I know that the sculpture wasn’t exactly historic in nature or deeply important for the preservation of the past, but it slowly propelled me to look into becoming a historic preservationist. It’s for the simple fact that I have a desire to not only protect historical sites throughout this country, but also to try and protect the roadside attractions that are left out there as well. 

We live in a country filled with big box stores and fast food chains that look entirely the same any where you go, making the landscape very bland, so that people can feel “safe” while someplace else. Weird, silly, and interesting places are slowly dying away - as I recently witnessed when I tried to find the tall Abe Lincoln statue and discovered it behind a lot of fences and “No Trespassing” signs. I’m very glad that there are people out there already dedicated to doing what they can to protect these roadside attractions – either through posting pictures and stories of these places, or actually trying to physically protect them.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to come across more fascinating places before they disappear from memory, because such places make life all the more interesting. I think it's why I'm working on becoming a journalist and a historian - tools that'll help me in preserving history, no matter how small that history is.

History Just Around the Corner - A few random thoughts

When going on a road trip, there's always the possibility of running into something you didn't think about before your travels. Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, history tends to be just around the corner. I only say this fact, due to the reason that while me and my wife were heading for Nashville, Tennessee, a road sigh declared that Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage, could be found just off the next exit.... ironically enough, along Old Hickory Boulevard - Old Hickory being Jackson's nickname, due to his toughness and aggressive personality that produced a bunch of duels.

I look forward to visiting The Hermitage the next time I get the chance to, since Andrew Jackson is one of those historical figures that tends to really stand out, especially as a president. A few months ago, I became deeply interested in the Jacksonian Era - most especially the events surrounding the War of 1812. I've only had the chance to visit Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois, so I think it would be pretty interesting to visit another president's home.

Jackson on his horse outside the Tennessee State Capitol Building

One of my many goals in life that I've had since I was a scrawny little kid, has been to visit all the state capitals and see the state capitol buildings (the inside of them anyways to be more specific). So far, I've only had the chance of being in a very small handful of them and at each place, it's been a very fun and fascinating experience. I think the most interesting building that I've been to and thoroughly enjoyed walking around, has been to the Hawaii State Capitol Building - where the traditional rotunda found anywhere else, is fully open to the elements. Here are a few more facts about the capitol building, found via the World Wide Web:

• The building is surrounded by a reflecting pool, symbolizing the Pacific Ocean.
• The two legislative chambers are cone-shaped, symbolizing volcanoes that formed the Hawaiian Islands.
• The columns around the perimeter of the building have shapes resembling coconut trees. There are eight in either side of the building, representing the eight main islands of Hawaii

The only downside to my trip to the Hawaii state capitol building was that there were no tours being offered the day I went. I could have went back another day, but it was the final full day that I would be on Oahu.

I'm hoping for my next state capitol building tour to be Wisconsin's. Surprisingly, I've lived only a hundred miles or so away from Madison all of my life and I have yet to step inside the place. I'm hoping to change that in the next couple of months or so - especially to see any signs of protesters that are still hanging out around the building, just to see what the fuss is all about. I'm sure it won't be like it was a few months ago when thousands jammed the hallways and rotunda and capitol grounds to protest the Governor and the state legislature.

Downtown Nashville

St Mary's Chapal

Andrew Jackson statue

Andrew Jackson

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Ever since I visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum a few years ago, and the Harley-Davidson Museum just a few weeks ago, I've been wanting to check out a state of the art museum. So, when me and my wife made plans to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, I was deeply excited to check it out.

I'm no country music lover, but to see the history of a music art/culture is truly worth the experience.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's new digs has been around for a few years now, and has major plans for an expansion in the future. I'm looking forward to heading back once they do expand, because the archives/library takes up a lot of room and so there are two small floors to look at all the memorabilia and listen/watch a bunch of videos and music through the ages.

Here's some pictures I took while going through the museum.......

Minnie Pearl's outfit - with the price tag on her hat still!

Roy Rogers display case

Elvis Presley's 1960 "Solid Gold Cadillac"

Hank Williams, Jr's "Monday Night Football" outfit

Hank Williams Jr

Part of the Williams Family Collection Exhibit - including the bear!

This is as close as I'm ever gonna get to a Grammy Award (The Judd's to be exact)

Dwight Yoakum outfit - a co-worker has rambled off his name a few times, so I took this

Taylor Swift guitar and dress

Johnny Cash's straight black guitar from the early 2000s

Country Music Hall of Fame Atrium

Painting that was the centerpiece of the Hall of Fame atrium