Niagara Falls on 9/11/01

I think it will be one of those news items that everybody remembers where they were when it happened. The events of 9/11 happened when I was on vacation in Niagara Falls, Canada. Laurie and I got to Canada that Sunday. Just a quick check at the border...checking ID and asking why we were there...and we were in. Tuesday morning, we were sleeping and it was about 8:30. We wanted to get up earlier, but were being lazy. I flipped on the TV to help us wake up and we were watching The Today Show. Matt Lauer was interviewing some guy who wrote a book about Rockafeller when he interrupted with some news. It looks like a small plane had flown into the World Trade Center. They cut away to a shot of the WTC with a big hole in it. As they were talking about it, it became apparent that it wasn't a small plane, but a much larger plane. The Today Show people were talking to a witness on the phone who was in the area, with a shot of the WTC on the screen. Suddenly, we saw a big explosion of fire and smoke. The witness on the phone screamed that another plane had hit the other tower. When the first plane hit, I was thinking it was an accident. I remember hearing about one or two planes that flew into the Empire State Building during its history. But when I saw the second plane hit, I knew it wasn't an accident. Someone was doing this on purpose. Laurie and I sat in bed just staring at the TV. A few moments later, they showed the tape of the plane flying into the building. Turning into the building. I don't think I'll ever forget that image.

It was hard to do, but we had to get ready. We were on vacation and we had planned on going to Toronto that day. Laurie took a shower and as she was in there, a plane flew into the Pentagon. At first, they thought it was a bomb. Then they found out it was a plane that possibly was meant for The White House. Laurie got out of the shower and I told her what happened. This is getting way too scary. It was like a movie...we couldn't believe it was happening and we were watching it live on TV. We sat and watched more coverage before I tore myself away to take a shower. When I got out, Laurie knocked on the bathroom door. The first tower had just collapsed. I cried. Not a lot, but my eyes were watering. Watching that tower fall knowing there were people inside. We were watching the TV when the other tower fell. I think we were numb. More information was coming in. It was three hijacked planes. All planes were being forced to land immediately. We left the hotel and went to breakfast. Everybody was talking about it...everybody had the news on.

In the restaurant, we couldn't hear the radio too well, but they were doing a recap and we thought we heard them say a plane went down just outside of Pittsburgh. Another plane?? And right outside of where we live?? We ate our breakfast, trying to listen to the radio for more information. We left and decided to drive to Toronto anyway. We listened to the news on the radio the whole way. We probably couldn't get away from the coverage if we tried. As we got closer to Toronto, we heard that the city had closed many of its buildings and sent most people home. Too late for us...we were already there. We found a place to park. Our plan was to go to the Hockey Hall Of Fame, the CN Tower, Gretzky's Restaurant, and maybe some other things if we found them and had the time. Since we both have never been to Toronto, we didn't know if the streets were busy or not. We found the building that the Hockey Hall Of Fame was in. It was one of the tallest buildings in Toronto. Standing next to it, looking up, I can't imagine being at the WTC when those planes flew into them. I think about that everytime I'm next to big building. We went inside and went to the ground level...that's where the food court was and the Hockey Hall Of Fame. Most of the food court was closed. The building offices were closed. With nobody working, the food court was closing too. Why be open when everybody went home? We walked over to the Hall Of Fame and sure enough, it was closed. All that way, and it was closed. We got a Coke from one of the few stores still open and sat down to drink it and decide what to do. We walked over to the CN Tower and that was closed as well. The Toronto Skydome (where the Blue Jays play baseball) was closed and they had a flyer in the window explaining that they were closed due to the events in the United States. By this time, the flags we saw were at half-staffed. It was weird. Again, like we were watching a movie.

We got back in the car and started back to the hotel in Niagara Falls. More news on the radio. Mainly American news, but they would break away for Canadian news. We learned that all the airports were closed down and no airplanes were allowed to fly. All airplanes had to land at the nearest airport, regardless of where they were headed. And that included diverting flights into Canada. We also learned more about the plane that went down near Pittsburgh. Weeks later, I would read in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that many downtown Pittsburgh office buildings were emergency evacuated because they didn't know why the one plane was still in the air and they thought they picked up another plane headed towards Pittsburgh. Everybody was told to leave the city. The second plane turned out to be a false report. When we got back to the hotel, the management had posted flyers in the lobby expressing their sorrow to their American guests.

It was a strange time. I still can't believe we watched the whole thing live on TV during vacation. We tried to enjoy the rest of the vacation, but at times, the thoughts and images of that day would come back. Since Laurie's a flight attendant, we thought we'd better check the answering machine at home. We were worried that people who didn't know she was on vacation would be calling to make sure she was ok. We had like 6 messages from friends. When we left, things were different at the border. They checked our ID's carefully and I had to get out and open the trunk. The guard opened our suitcases and flipped through them. He also checked where the spare tire goes. Below are some pictures taken on 9/11. Click the thumbnail to see the larger photo.

Flyer at The Skydome

Flags in Toronto

Rainbow Bridge