We just returned from a trip to NYC to watch some friends run in the NYC marathon.  First, I cannot say enough about the people of NYC and how amazing they were on that crazy day.  I never felt at risk, there were many police officers, swat teams, security checkpoints and it made me feel safe.  What a great experience.  Thank you to all who worked to make it an outstanding event.

After our marathoners were running there 26.2 miles, we had a little time to visit the 9/11 Memorial.  Early on I remember reading about different ideas for the memorial and it took a few years before it was actually built.  Looking into the abyss of where the buildings stood and seeing the water slowly returning to below captured the feeling of helplessness we all felt that tragic day.

What I was not aware of was the story of the survivor tree.  The 9/11 memorial employees showed us pictures of this amazing tree in ruins.  It was just the trunk with a few dead looking limbs.  While so much was destroyed this little Callery pear tree held strong.  The ribbons surrounding the tree were in tribute to the people that were killed in the October 30, 2017 truck attack.  The employees went on to tell us how they have seedlings from this survivor tree to send to other sites of terrorist attacks.  Wouldn’t it be an amazing thing if we no longer needed those little seedlings.

A trip to NYC is never complete without a trip to Central Park.  If I lived in NYC I think you would find me hanging out at Central Park most of the time.  The father of Landscape Architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted, is probably my all time hero for creating beauty and making it look like Central Park was carved out and saved, rather then created by man.

And the weekend would not be complete without a night at the landmark McSorley’s!

Manhattan, until next time!

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