Day 12: New York, NY - GFC Gala Event

First up this morning to we headed downtown to the Financial District to make a visit to the 9/11 memorial.  After exiting the subway station we passed by Zuccoti Park which was the site of the "Occupy Wall Street" protest.

After passing though security we made our way onto the site of the 9/11 memorial.  When I last visited New York back in 1997 I didn't visit the observation deck at the World Trade Centre, but nevertheless there was no denying that the Twin Towers by themselves had a lasting visual presence on the New York skyline.   

Memories of my last visit to NYC in 1997

As we moved up into the area of the memorial itself, we saw the two 1-acre square pools that are located within the footprints of where the Twin Towers had stood. The simple design of the memorial had waterfalls cascading down the sides of each pool; along with the names of 2,983 victims inscribed on bronze plates (2,977 of those were killed in the September 11 attacks in New York City, Arlington, VA, and Pennsylvania; and 6 vicitms from the 1983 World Trade Centre bombing).

Freedom Tower under construction.

After we left the memorial, we walked down to Battery Park where we checked out Lady Liberty in the distance.

In the early afternoon we headed back uptown to grab a bite to eat near the hotel before resting up in anticipation for the gala event to held later that night.

It was so much fun to attend the Grobanites for Charity "THANKS A MILLION" Celebration event, which took place at our hotel.  I spent the night catching-up with the many friends I had made over the past week, as well as meeting many more new friends from all over the world.

The main reason behind the event was to celebrate the fact that Josh's fans had raised over ONE MILLION DOLLARS for The Josh Groban Foundation (which is now known as the Find Your Light Foundation). K and her friend Justin (JH) had arrived in NYC and they met us at the event which included a red carpet photo opportunity (so most people dressed up), dinner, several guest speakers, including Josh's mum Lindy; and a slideshow highlighting GFC activities over the past years (including various meet & greets; and fundraising activities undertaken by the fans) all set to a soundtrack of Josh's music.

One of the many highlights occurred early in the night guests when were asked to take their seats... This was was followed by lots of whispers of excitement, which eventually turned into huge cheers as Josh walked in.  Below is Josh's speech along with the lovely speech from his mom, Lindy where she said that "we were like part of the family"...

After the formalities, J, K, JH and I headed off to experience some NYC nightlife.  Our first stop was "the Flying Puck" which is a sports bar close to the hotel that J had found on her last visit to the city.  She'd made friends with the Irish bartenders (Dave & Bobby) so we had to pop in to say hello. From here we headed to the Vlada Lounge in Hell's Kitchen where I got to see my very first drag show before we drank more cocktails, laughed and danced the night away.   And if a good night is defined by getting home at after 3am, carrying our heals in the hotel lobby while eating a slice a pizza - the J & I well and truly win!