Click to enlarge. 7WTC is built. 1WTC and 4WTC are the two that are well on their way. The Museum Pavilion also appears to be mostly done.

I went to the newly opened National September 11 Memorial yesterday afternoon, having reserved a pass back in July. Here’s some nuts-and-bolts info about what to expect. (Once a travel editor, always a travel editor.)

••• The security process wasn’t overbearing, and lines were exceedingly short; they may get worse on weekends, I suppose. You can leave your shoes on when you pass through the metal detector.

••• Currently, you enter the security compound from the southeast, at Albany and Greenwich, snaking along the perimeter for a while until you’re on the western side. (This will change with construction, I believe.) The signs say that eventually you’ll be able to enter the memorial plaza from all four directions.

••• There was plenty of elbow room when I was there—so much that I wondered if they were limiting the number of people on the first day.

••• If it’s sunny, bring sunglasses and a hat. The trees offer little shade at this point, and the bright stone, water, and glass-and-steel buildings make for a lot of glare.

••• The security took five minutes or so, and we were at the memorial for maybe 20 minutes. Those of us who live north of the WTC will want to budget more time for the visit, however, because….

••• You exit out on West Street. There’s a visitor center (with gift shop) nearby in 90 West, but it’s pretty subdued and you can choose to ignore it. I peeked in—it’s where I shot the map above—and it struck me as being just like the one up at Vesey and Church.

So how was it? The degree to which it succeeds as a memorial will depend much upon on the visitor, I think—and that’s true of any memorial. Certainly, the names around the pools gain even more emotional currency when you see flowers and flags placed by one or someone mourning (by, say, doing a rubbing of the name). The white noise of the waterfalls forces a hush over the memorial, so that even if people are speaking—and they are, along with posing for photos, listening to tour guides, and making phone calls—the hush wins.

Personally, I was simply fascinated to be in a part of the city that’s been off limits for a decade. I loved getting a different view of 1WTC and 4WTC, a better sense of where 2WTC and 3WTC will be (you can peek through fencing into their foundations), and an idea of how Greenwich Street will flow through the site.

P.S. The striped, relatively low-slung building is the Museum Pavilion.