Life is precious: Westville & related events

Favorite NYC restaurant in Chelsea :-) We saw Gerard Butler ride by on a bicycle while waiting outside for our table! I smiled excitedly at him and he smiled and nodded back at me! #thisissparta

So M&I had a nice dinner in the city together, after meeting our niece Mila (cousin's newborn daughter), to find out we were 5 blocks from the terrorism bombing - thankfully missing it by 30 minutes, and reaching home safely. We were on 18th street eating, and left the restaurant at 8pm and got on the 1 train. We got out at Times Square, then the bombing happened on 23rd street and later another on 27th street we heard, plus one in NJ as well. They shut the 1 train down after that, and we ironically had decided to walk to midtown to our parked car, and didn't try to get back on the subway.

Last year we went through Istanbul airport on our way back from our Greece honeymoon, and this year same time it was bombed. This summer we tried to take a vacation in Martha's Vineyard, only to rush and catch the last boat off the island, two days before our vacation was over, before they shut the boats down due to Hurricane Hermine. 

It has become a scary world :-/ 

I am scared even going to a movie theater. 

But should we stop living due to fear?

15

ABC News

"President Obama delivered remarks outside the Pentagon today to memorialize the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling gatherers that the "3,000 beautiful lives" lost that day will never be forgotten.

"We wonder how their lives might have unfolded -- how their dreams might have taken shape," Obama said during his last time overseeing an anniversary of Sept. 11 as president.

To the survivors of 9/11 and the families of victims, Obama said: "Even as you've mourned, you've summoned the strength to carry on."

"You've done your best to be a good neighbor, and a good friend, and a good citizen," he added. "You remind us there's nothing that Americans can't overcome.""

 

New England + Hermine

We woke up this morning to find out that Hurricane Hermine had skipped New York and hit Martha's Vineyard - where we had been staying for the past two nights, and were supposed to stay last night as well. Had we not used our gut feeling to leave earlier, we would have been stuck on the island in this hurricane. We happened to get one the last/one of the last ferries off the island. We were staying in Oak Bluffs, and walked to the ferry port, which had already shut down Sunday by 1pm. The only remaining ferries were leaving from Vineyard Haven. We took a (very slow - long story) cab to the port, ran to the ferry, got on, and they shut the doors and it started moving. The ferry was going up and down with the high waves due to the surge in the water from the hurricane, which was still far down the coast, but the effect was already hitting the waters. 

When we were leaving Friday morning, we were debating whether or not to go. Having paid in advance for the entire weekend was stressing me out, but losing our lives was stressing Mohit out. Point taken. We decided to go but keep checking the weather every hour, which led to a constant state of underlying stress, and panic as we watched the storm climb up the coast. We left Friday morning, stopped in Providence, Rhode Island on the way and saw Brown University from the outside. We then went to Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, MA (Cape Cod), which was near the ferry we were taking to Martha's Vineyard. We spent two days and nights in Martha's Vineyard, and left Sunday afternoon on that last ferry instead of Monday, which was good because we would have been stranded there. Once we safely reached off the island around 3pm on Sunday, we decided to go into Boston and enjoy. We went to the New England Aquarium, right on Boston Harbor, and watched a 3D documentary on sharks. We had an amazing Thai dinner on the Harbor, under the twinkling lights that lined the shop and people filled lanes, with street performers and music warming the night. It was peaceful and relaxing, because we knew we would now be safe, no matter where the hurricane hit, since we were off the island. This was probably the best part of our trip :-) 

Martha's Vineyard was nice - we did take a full island tour (lots of trees), had nice brunches, dinners, went to the beach, took nice walks, and even played in the arcade, but honestly Martha's Vineyard was ok - not sure we would go back, and not just because of the hurricane experience, but in general. We had a great time in Boston though, and even in the other areas of New England as we drove there and back. All in all, it was a good vacation for this long weekend, especially being surrounded by nature the entire time - that was pure bliss!

Mohit's favorite part of the aquarium: the turtle in the coral tank; my favorite part: the penguins :-)

Pics-vids collage emailed out to everyone (Vimeo link), but also a small glimpse here: