Flight 93 Memorial

After a relaxing morning in which I napped and Greg read, we headed to the Flight 93 Memorial.

I had mixed feelings about touring this site. My memories of 9/11 are still vivid in my mind, and I was reluctant to re-traumatize myself.

That said, I’m glad we went. The site is in a naturally beautiful location. I felt like I was standing on top of the world. There were mountains and meadows as far as I could see.

The visitor’s center did a wonderful job of telling the story of that day. I was both moved and informed. I was reminded again of the heroism of Flight 93’s passengers and how many lives they saved through their actions.

After our tour of the visitor center, Greg and I hiked down to Memorial Plaza and the crash site.

I was surprised to learn that there were only about 40 people on the plane, and they took a vote before storming the pilot’s cabin.

A boulder now marks the spot where the plane crashed, but I did not take a picture of it. It seemed disrespectful somehow.

On our way out of the memorial site, we stopped at the Tower of Voices, where 40 chimes represent the 40 people who lost their lives that day. The wind has to blow at 12 to 15 mph in order for the chimes to ring. We got to hear them briefly as we were walking toward the tower.

Greg made a friend at the base of the tower. This little kitten was basically a skeleton covered in fur, but my, did he have a pair of lungs! I was seriously tempted to take him back to our campsite.

Luckily, another tourist gave him some water and called the Rangers. I like to think that he is in good hands tonight.