story1350.xml

story1350.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-20

My husband and I are from Philadelphia, Pa. On the day of the terrorist attacks we were beggining a week-long vacation in Maine. After a two day drive from Philadelphia we reached Bar Harbor on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning, Sept. 11th, we were up early planning to visit Acadia National Park. We were just back from breakfast at our hotel when my husband called me out of the shower to show me something he saw on CNN(he was surfing channels while waiting his turn for the bathroom).As I stood there staring at the TV I was surprised to see the smoking hole in the center of the first tower.We were debating whether or not it was a small plane that hit the building or a large jet when the next plane hit. We were seeing this on live TV and it was very upseting (to say the least).After that, we were glued to the TV for the rest of the morning. This was the first day of our long-awaited trip to Acadia National Park, but this news story was too frightening and tragic--we couldn't leave the room. As the morning wore on and we learned of the plane hitting the Pentagon and the one that crashed in Pennsylvania I became quite frightened--not knowing what would be happening next. This could have been the beginning of a big war for all we knew--but we were powerless and could do nothing about it.There was some comfort in learning the all flights had been stopped around the nation but there was still a feeling of doom in the air.I couldn't get those images out of my head--the towers falling and all the terror in the streets of New York.Here we were in Maine, far from the disaster sites but still feeling connected to it all. By the afternoon we decided to leave our hotel room and go to the park as we had planned. We decided to keep to the Park Loop Road so we could get back to our car every hour to hear the news.(We also tried, unsuccessfully, to reach our children back in Philadelphia but the phones were not working).The weather that day was glorious and the park was magnificent. We stood on Sand Beach(our first stop of the day) and looked out on pristine ocean,majestic pine trees, and rocky cliffs that are the signature of Acadia. I was struck by the peace and beauty still left in the world despite all of the horror unleashed by the terrorists.It was a sign of hope and comfort to me. Our National Parks are a real treasure, a place to savor the beauty of our country and appreciate its gifts to us all.On our way home from Acadia, after a glorious few days in the wilderness of Maine, we drove by the area of New York where the towers once stood. The familiar New York skyline seemed empty except for the smoke still coming from the smoldering site.I snapped a photo of the scene from the car. I will never forget that week.It is etched in my memory forever.