My wife and I made the trip to New York yesterday to finally get to see Springsteen on Broadway. Tickets for this show have been extremely hard to get and it took me three time before I got the code to actually try and get tickets. The tickets cost way more than any concert or show tickets I've ever purchased, and there was no way I was going to pay the scalper/resale market prices.
It was about a 3 hour drive to New York. I had arranged for parking a couple weeks ago, and the garage was literally 50 feet from the Walter Kerr Theater. This turned out to be pretty nice, as it was pouring rain when the show let out.
We got to the city about 2PM so we had a few hours to kill before the show. We walked around Times Square for a bit, which is nothing more than a gaudy tourist trap. I hailed a cab and we went to Ground Zero to see what has been done since our last visit over 10 years ago, when there was basically still just an empty hole in the ground. Yesterdays visit was a very powerful experience. As I approached the reflecting pool where the South Tower once stood, a chill came over me. I walked up to the edge, where the names of first responders who lost their lives that September day were etched in the stone. I reached out and touched it, and I could almost hear the screams of the thousands who died. It's very hard to explain what I felt. Even though I have no direct connection to anyone affected that day, I felt an emptiness and a profound sense of loss. We walked around the area for several hours, and I tried to imagine what it was like that day. I could not bring my self to take pictures of the reflecting pools as I felt it was somehow disrespectful, but I can say those imagines will forever be etched upon my heart.
One World Trade Center
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Reflection of One World Trade Center on Four World Trade Center
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We headed back uptown and had dinner at Rosie O'Grady's Pub. Food was good and the atmosphere was great. My lovely date for the evening!
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Back to the Walter Kerr Theater, which only seats about 900 people, so it was a pretty intimate setting. As we we milling about, we heard one of the security staff say "ten minutes". They started putting up crowd barriers around the front of the place, so we figured Bruce was on his way.
Front of the Walter Kerr Theater
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My wife had mentioned how many black Chevy Suburbans she had seen driving around. And wouldn't you know, a black Chevy Suburban pulls up about 15 feet from where we are standing, and Bruce and his wife Patty hop out.
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Our seats were about 20 rows from the stage, and realistically there wasn't a bad seat in the house. The show lasted almost 2 1/2 hours, with Bruce talking about his life, playing his music. It was almost like you were hanging out with Bruce, sharing stories and having a few beers. You could hear the struggles and emotion in his voice as he talked about the relationship he had with his father. The sadness as he talked about his mother's continuing battle with dementia. The loss he felt losing The Big Man, Clarence Clemons. You could also feel the joy and happiness as he talked about his life and his relationship with us, his audience. All I can say it was an amazing glimpse into Bruce's life, as told by Bruce.
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