A walkway of rich dark stone leads through the slot in the high bare walls to a simple overlook. Your eyes are drawn across the meadow to a row of marble columns, through a gate made of rough hewn timbers, to a solitary boulder.  This row of images leads visitors along the final flight path of flight 93.  Walking paths and roads wind through the huge grounds.  It is a peaceful, contemplative place.

Exhibits in the visitor center chronicle minute by minute the happenings of 9/11. It is a pretty heavy story but all nicely done.  The most wrenching experiences are the first hand calls and accounts of passengers, crew and first responders.  Some can be listened to in the visitor center still many more can only be read in an unadorned room containing rows of tables upon which lie simple binders with transcripts of lots of these communications.      Visitors perched on plain folding chairs thumb through the binders silently.

The memorial project is not done yet. Landscaping continues and there is a plan for a huge wind chime tower with a chime for each of the 40 souls lost that day.

Every element, every color, placement, and texture seem to matter. What story do we want to tell and what emotion do we hope to illicit from those who visit?  Design and construction of a National Monument is pretty amazing.