9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York

We stopped in New York on our way back to pay our respects at the 9/11 memorial. The largest attack ever on American soil shook our nation to its core in 2001. Although it was extremely emotional to relive that day, the curators of the museum did the impossible. They honored the victims and their families respectfully, and recounted the history that WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

: Aerial view of the reflecting pools where the two World Trade Center buildings used to be, next to the new One World Trade Center tower.

: Each pool is surrounded by etched names of the 2,996 people that died in the four attacks.

: One of eleven pregnancies among the victims.

: This 2 1/2 year old child was the youngest victim, on her first plane ride when Flight 175 struck the South Tower.

: At night, the pools light up with an eerie reverence. The cascading water drowns out the street noise, and falls into the center void.

: Blue lights represent the missing World Trade Center towers.

: The chilling timeline and location of the attacks.

: Thousands survived, thanks to courageous NYPD and FDNY rescue efforts.

: This is the original location of the “survivor staircase” that the people in the last photo walked down.

: The mangled top of the enormous antenna that used to top the building.

: The “Wall of Faces” gave us not only a photo to go with each name, but a sense of magnitude for the loss.

: The museum is built on top of the old World Trade Center foundation, seven stories underground. We literally walked right where people were rescued.