We would begin our
most recent adventure (day one) at what had once been called “Ground Zero.” Elevators
rise to this “top of the world” in a staggering 60 seconds while the occupants
are treated to the formation and visual history of Manhattan starting below
ground in a state of the art video. Three of the elevator’s walls display the
remarkable simulated time-lapse sequentially from pre-history to the Native
Americans, the Dutch, and 20th
Century New York through to the present as the city grew literally into this new
ziggurat of a structure. The ride is so fast that there is little time to
adjust and for the record if you haven’t visited before stand with your back to
the doors for the best view of this presentation. Another video follows after
exiting the elevator to an IMAX size wall with a multi-medium experience that
is spectacle for the eye and ear. The screen then rises to reveal the visual splendor
of lower Manhattan in the present moment with an uninhibited almost reverential
applause. It is a magnificent achievement and honor to behold. The best America
has to offer.
Walking around the 360 degree observatory is a student of
architecture’s dream. The view is that of a height only seen before through
flight but with the luxury now of a stationary floor. The details, the distance
and the sense of discovery are exhilarating. Buildings ranging from Gothic to
Modern to Art Deco and Post Modern all in close proximity for view in both
study and pleasure. The entirety of the
Lower portions of the city; ferries, tugs, sails on the East River and the
Hudson…exciting stuff!
We left the World Trade Center for Battery Park; it’s
performers, artists and tourists. The festival consisted of break dancers,
ballerinas, snake handlers, portrait sketch artists and human Statues of
Liberty on stilts. One thousand and one things to see and participate in; all
there within the park. We took a short
walk on Wall Street where a crowd surrounded the Merrill Lynch Bull with kids
lifted on it’s back posing happily and thrillingly for spectators as vendors
sold bull replicas of all sizes and materials. We walked around the massive National
Museum of the American Indian. The kids had their portraits done; ate ice cream
and pretzels and drank plenty of water. This was while we waited for our
twilight sea faring tour of Lower Manhattan by clipper ship.
Our first travel by sail was everything and possible a
hundred times more than hoped for. We had the wonderful vantage of seeing the
harbor from three distinct vantage points of lighting; daylight, twilight (sunset)
and night. These multiple views of the city, The Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island were breath taking as we cruised in and around other vessels at multiple
vantage points. The radiant sky stretched on for miles as the breeze gently
propelled us forward. We talked with our fellow travelers and the sailors. We;
within a very short time, fell in love with this civilized form of travel. The
wind, the air, the sounds and rhythm of graceful motion won us over. The moment
could have endured without end but tomorrow (day two) was for bicycles, Central
Park, Park Ave. and possibly Time Square.
