New York City Day 4 - April 3, 2008

Today, we went back to Rockefeller Center and went up to the Top of the Rock (top floor of Rockefeller Center – 70 floors up). The locals told us that it was a better view than the top of the Empire State Building so that’s the one we opted for. It didn’t disappoint. 360 degree view of the city – we saw the bay and the Statue of Liberty, Staten Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, all of Central Park, the Met Life building, the Chrysler building, the Empire State building, absolutely everything. New York City is really all about the buildings and the business. There’s no agriculture, mining, etc. I actually thought the buildings would be taller. They were tall, for sure, but I wasn’t wanting to walk around looking up all the time in amazement. That’s good, I’m told. My friend, Marlo, told me that I’ve been spotted as a tourist if I get charged more than a dollar for a hot dog or pretzel, so no looking up, keep the camera hidden unless taking pictures, and walk with purpose, like I have somewhere to be…got it.

We watched a short film narrated by John Rockefeller Jr.’s son – he’s still alive and has kept an office in the building for over 60 years. The film showed how the building went up during the depression, and John Rockefeller had intended for others to help with the financing of it. Well, because of the stock market crash and the resulting depression, the partners backed out and he financed the entire thing himself. The famous picture of the dirty steel workers having lunch on the beam hanging hundreds of feet above the ground was taken during the construction of this building.

David Rockefeller was just a young boy, on their way home from a trip to Egypt, when his father decided to do this. I realized that a large part of the reason why this boy grew up to be so successful wasn’t necessarily because he came from affluence, although that was certainly part of it, but it seems to be more the attitude and environment in which he was raised. He didn’t know anything different except large scale business on a global scale, so that’s what he did. Without fear or apprehension, because he was already used to it. It was just daily life for this guy. It just reinforces the notion that setting high expectations for our kids teaches them to think at a high level. If we want them to have a bigger or better life than we have, then we need to raise them in an environment where they acclimate and can believe in themselves at that level.

We went back to Ground Zero to try and get some better pictures. I wanted to visit the cemetery of St. Paul’s church again. I wonder who’s buried there? Many of the headstones were completely worn smooth (maybe from the WTC blast?). I’m just drawn to that little place, it’s obviously cherished by the Creator. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel very emotional over the whole “Ground Zero” thing, and I’m not really sure why. Not to be morbid, but I tried to imagine where the bodies hit of the people that jumped. I tried to imagine how terrified they were and the grief of so many families. It didn’t really hit me or sink in very well for some reason, which makes me feel like a robot. Not exactly sure what’s going on (or not going on) in my heart there, I need to figure that out, I think.

By the way, the subway stations down by WTC are really quite tidy. Beautiful tile work.

We came back to the hotel, jumped in the Johnson’s rental car, and headed to the kids’ game. It was 3-0 when we walked in, halfway through the first period. Our boys immediately scored two goals and we gave ourselves a lot of credit for being lucky charms. Ha. We left the immediate rink side and went looking for some seating and all of a sudden, our boys got slaughtered. Final score was 11-2. Dang. What a morale-buster. We went for a team dinner afterwards and proposed to Cory (coach) that we get the guys all in their matching All-Star warm up suits, and take them to the skating rink at Rockefeller tomorrow morning. They’d get on the Today show for sure and I thought it would be a great “gelling” experience for the team!! Cory seriously considered it for a minute, but then a couple of the other parents ix-nayed it, and Cory decided not. Maybe he’ll change his mind by morning. One grumpy parent grumbled, “We’re here for a hockey tournament.” I say they’re here for a life experience. Dean has said to me before that he’s traveled the world with hockey, but rarely got to SEE the places he went to. I think that’s tragic and unfortunate.