After hanging up the phone with her, I immediately jumped out of bed and hit the Internet to research what I could find about each of the guests from the previous day's show. I went to Yahoo and entered the names of the guests to record as much information as I could about their careers. I made notes of what I could find and went into my living room to turn on the television and wait by the telephone for the call.

I probably should mention that this was not just any day, though. It was on a Tuesday. In September. On the 11th day of the month! A little over an hour after I received that exciting telephone call, the tragic attack on the World Trade Center towers in New York City happened. I was literally on hold with the producer of LIVE with Regis and Kelly watching the television waiting for the show to begin at 9:00am when The Today Show began showing the first World Trade Center tower on fire. The commentators were speculating that it might have been an accident.

When it was time for LIVE with Regis and Kelly to begin, the producer came on and told me that they might not be having a show today because of the plane flying into the World Trade Center tower. She said that their studio is only a few blocks from the World Trade Center towers. At 9:00am, I was listening to LIVE with Regis and Kelly on the telephone since The Today Show was still being shown on the television.

Around 9:10am, I was watching the television with the mute on and listening to Regis talking about what was happening in New York when the other plane crashed into the second World Trade Center tower. At that moment, the producer came on the line and said that something really bad was happening in New York City and that they will have to evacuate their building immediately. She assured me that I would be called back as soon as the next show was scheduled. Somehow, that was not the most important thing to me at the time after the horrific scene my eyes had witnessed on television!

For the next few days, the producer (I found out later that her name is Linda) called me from her home to let me know that they had not forgotten about me and that I am in line to be called for the Travel Trivia game as soon as they are back on the air live. Because downtown Manhatten was closed for several days because of the fear that other buildings in the area might collapse, it was over a week before the show would be back on the air again live. They showed repeats of the show until LIVE with Regis and Kelly returned to the air on Wednesday, September 19, 2002.

It was on that Wednesday in September that I would have my chance to win a trip to an enchanting vacation destination...

Be sure to read the exciting conclusion to this story on Thursday, August 1, 2002 on Commonvoice.com! It will include my conversation with Regis Philbin on national television as well as the exciting outcome of the Travel Trivia game.