I had been to the Red Sox and Yankees game the night before. Rained all night! In retrospec, lets be tahnkful the terrorists were not baseball fnas or the loss of life could have been much worse.
I was in the Sheraton talking with a Swiss account and could see, in my peripheral vision, a plume of smoke. I recall wondering how that level of pollution could be condoned in NYC but was totally distracted by the call. I then left the room for breakfast and encountered a cleaning women in the hall crying. She told me that a plane had hit the WTC. I went back in the room, sat on the end of the bed, and turned on the TV to see what the news was. I saw the building (the first one) and then slowly turned my attention to the real world out the window. I actually believe I turned two or three times before I consciously understood the view was the same as the TV. I sat for a while just looking, alternatively, at the screen and at the scene unfolding in real time. I cannot tell you truthfully if I saw the second plane hit on the TV or in real time but I will never forget the surreal event.
Soon a knock came on the door. It turned out to be a couple that worked as NASCAR photographers from NC and they asked me if I could see the towers from my room. I did, and they spent a time taking photo's of the implosion. I had a rental car so the next day, I drove the couple and myself from NYC to ATL.