Judy Querry and Connie Rankin returned home late Monday evening, September 13th, from a 6 day trip to New York City. Sightseeing on their own included Rockefeller Center and “The Top of the Rock”, Time Square, Central Park, FAO Schwarz Toy Store, Empire State Building, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, South Street Seaport, Grand Central Station, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, The American Museum of Natural History, The Museum of the City of New York and NBC Studios. While near the NBC Studios, they watched a portion of the “Today” show being filmed and were asked to be part of the audience of the Dr. Oz show. One evening, they took a dinner cruise around the New York Harbor. They also attended the Broadway plays, “Million Dollar Quartet” and “Lion King”.

On the first day of a two day bus tour they drove through Upper West Side and Uptown Manhattan. The second day tour took them to Downtown Manhattan, through Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, and past Ground Zero.

On Saturday morning, 9-11, they walked to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and took in part of the special mass commemorating this day. As they approached the church, bagpipers played out front. All U.S. flags in the city flew at half mast and special memorials were left in front of the city’s fire stations honoring the firefighters who lost their lives on this day, nine years ago. That afternoon, they accompanied their cousin, Mark Forre Meyer and his wife Deb, of Hoboken, NJ, by subway, to Ground Zero. The atmosphere in the area was quiet, except for the protestors that could be heard a couple of blocks away. The number of police and security in the area was overwhelming. From there they walked to Wall Street and saw the Federal Building where George Washington gave his first inaugural address, the New York Stock Exchange Building, and the historical Trinity Church. They strolled through Washington Square Park, before catching the subway back to Midtown. Saturday evening they attended services at St. Malachy’s Church (The Actor’s Chapel).

On Sunday, Mark and Deb picked up Connie and Judy at their hotel and they drove into New Jersey via the George Washington Bridge. Their first stop was at Ft. Lee, a Revolutionary War battle site. From there they drove to Jersey City to board a ferry to Ellis Island and they spent several hours there. The evening was spent visiting in the Meyer home.