October 21, 2003
Road Trip - Day 17: Guggen-what?
Art Appreciation/History Day
After a horrible night's sleep (mostly due to the strong smell of cigarette smoke in our non-smoking room) we arose early and decided to check out of the not-so-Quality Inn. We went to get some breakfast first at a very ethnic bagel place. The proprietors behind the counter spoke as though they had just gotten off the boat from Italy five minutes before we arrived for breakfast! Joel and the kids got a kick out of hearing me attempt an Italian/New Jersey accent. (Ok, ok, I know I'm no good at doing accents. I'm a southern girl through and through. Whatya expect?)
Anyway, Joel called around looking for another motel room, and finally found one in Secaucus at another Red Roof Inn. (They have been very good to us on this trip!) So once again we loaded everything back in the van, and set out for the Red Roof. Fortunately they had a room ready for us and they let us go ahead and check in. The woman at the reception desk was very nice, and went out of her way to help us with whatever we needed--especially when it came to getting the low-down on seeing the sights in New York City.
 After we had emptied the van, Joel called a taxi to take us to the bus stop so we could catch a bus into New York City, as we had been advised. The Guggenheim Museum was on our "to do" list today, and was our first destination.
Once we got into the city we took the subway to the Times Square area and walked the few blocks to the Guggenheim. We had failed to do our homework, however, and the exhibits at the museum were not exactly what we had hoped for. Instead, almost the entire museum was filled with James Rosenquist's paintings. For those of you, like us, who are unfamiliar with Mr. Rosenquist's work, it is rather abstract and nostalgic in some ways. I'm sure it "speaks" to a great many people. We, however, "heard" nothing but utter confusion from this particular artist!
There was one permanent exhibit, however, that had artwork from a variety of artists, from Manet to Picasso--and a host of others--that we enjoyed very much.
 When we had our fill of artwork, we took a stroll through Central Park. It was a beautiful day without a drop of rain, so we enjoyed our walk very much. Once on the other side of the park we took another subway train to Lower Manhattan to visit Ground Zero. We spoke with an electrician there who was overseeing the construction of the first building to be rebuilt in the area. When he learned that we were from the OKC area there was an immediate "bond." He knew we knew.... We spoke with him a few minutes, then he directed us to an area from which we could best view the "footprint" of the World Trade Center's collapse.
En route we came across a young man, Edwin Class, making WTC skyline pictures out of matchbooks. We spoke with him for a while as well. Apparently he had worked with the Red Cross following the attack of September 11 and this was his way of contributing to the memorial. With each matchbook he gives away, all he asks (besides a meager donation to cover the cost of the matchbooks) is that we email a photo to him of the matchbook in another place, such as our home town. This is his way of artistically measuring the effects of 9-11 across our nation and around the world.
We continued on our walk to the viewing area and stood for awhile just looking at the enormous hole in the ground where the twin towers once stood. It was hard to get a grasp on the tragedy with everything cleaned up, much less to describe it here in a worthy manner. It just isn't possible.
As we continued on, we stumbled across an exhibit in the World Financial Center across the street, showing the intended memorial to be built in honor of those who lost their lives that day. Although it wasn't the design we would've chosen, I'm certain it will be quite significant once it's completed.
By this time it was getting late in the day, and we knew poor Socrates was probably crossing his legs in his crate back at the Red Roof. So we took the subway back to the Port Authority bus station and headed back toward Secaucus.
We were really tired by this time, and food was the only thing that sounded good--besides a foot rub! So we took Socrates out for a potty break, then went to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. On our way back to the room once again we came across a mall and Joel wanted to shop, so we put our feet back in motion again (oy vey!) and walked around the mall for awhile.
Both Zach and Jenna found some "treasures"--an out-of-production Bionicle for Zach, and a watch for Jenna she had been looking for for weeks. I bought some shoes and Joel, well, he got a cookie. :-) (Along with the satisfaction of having made his family happy.)
Now the kids are neatly tucked in their beds, and Joel and I are doing our duel blogs.... And I am sensing the time for those footrubs is very near!
So with that, I'm outta heee. ;-)
Posted by at October 21, 2003 09:23 PM
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Comments
Enjoying keeping up with you guys! Kyle remembers you in his nightly prayers for safe travel and fun. I especially enjoyed Joel's interpretation of where the Red Roof Inn is in New Jersey; Saugus? Perhaps, he needs alittle "homeschool" geography lesson!!! I see you got the town right!! Any way, Go with God, He's got the directions to all the right places! NHZGRP, R&K
Posted by: Ro | October 22, 2003 09:53 AM
I'm so glad you're keeping up with us, Ro! (And thanks for the note about Joel's "oopsie." He fixed it right away!) ;-)
Tell Kyle how VERY much we appreciate those prayers. Tell him to keep them coming!--or is it going?
Much love to you both,
Mary
Posted by: Mary Comm | October 22, 2003 10:48 PM