It's strange how clearly we remember times like this. I was sitting at my desk and my secretary came in and told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. The first details were sketchy and of course I'm thinking a small private plane I couldn't have imagined the horror that would unfold.
Two months later I had to fly into Washington, and as we were landing I could see the hole in the Pentagon. I got all choked up and thought I was going to be sick. You can't imagine how horrible that felt. I had a colleague who's sister was killed in the Pentagon. After getting off the plane, I remember walking down the hallways of the airport and being able to hear my foot steps on the hard floors, seeing armed guards and only a few other people. It really felt creepy, gave me goose bumps. I sure hurried out of there and jumped on the Metro to get out of there.
The whole atmosphere of Washington DC was palpably different then normal. Maybe that was just in my head, but it sure seemed somewhat muted. A group of us went to Mount Vernon to tour it, and there were so few visitors that we got a really personal tour. Got to go into places that normally visitors can't go into. I thing the tour guides were desperate for something to do. It will be forever burned into my memory.
