Manhattan, NY (January 8, 2015)

Another early morning because today we will go see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the World Trade Center Memorial and the Empire State Building. As we finished up breakfast, we headed toward the elevators, only to find a huge line of people waiting. When we asked what was happening, they said one of the elevators was stuck and the fire department had turned off both of them to work on the one that was stuck. Unfortunately for us, all of our stuff for the day was in our room, and we had a ferry to catch, but fortunately for us, we weren’t stuck in the elevator. So up the stairs we went. It wouldn’t have been too bad, but both of the girls kept getting tired, and then getting the giggles, so we kept stopping every 9 floors or so to recompose ourselves. Then off we would go again. We finally got to the 29th floor, got our things, and headed back down the stairs to catch our taxi. Now even this wouldn’t have been too bad, except that we weren’t just going to the Statue of Liberty, we had tickets to the crown; which meant many, many more flights of stairs in just a little while. It was going to be a good workout day. 

With the help of our taxi driver, we made it to Battery Park, through rush hour traffic, in time to catch our ferry. That taxi ride was $27.20. Not bad for rush hour. Through security, into the ferry terminal and onto the ferry we went. Inside seating was a must because it was 6 degrees and about 100 percent humidity outside. Not a good day for an outside ferry ride. It was crowded, but a nice ride. 

The ferry ride to the statue.  Photo-bombed by a NYC stalker ; )

Approaching the statue of liberty from the bay was quite a sight; so pretty. We could walk around the grounds, gift shop and cafeteria, but in order to get into the statue itself, we had to have a ticket and go through security again. Once we were through security, we were allowed into the pedestal area of the statue. Even the pedestal is quite high and gives you nice views of Manhattan. 

View from the island

The bolts that hold the statue in place.  Wow, kind of big!

Replica of Lady Liberty's foot

We're on the pedestal, looking up at Lady Liberty

View from the pedestal of Lady Liberty

Another view from the pedestal of Lady Liberty

As we proceeded to the stairway to the crown, our oldest daughter, became very quiet. She has a fear of heights and was really not looking forward to this part. The stairs to the crown are very interesting. They are very short, steep steps with a metal railing. It is almost like climbing up construction scaffolding, through the center of the statue. There are no walls, you look out and just see the inside of the statue. 

Starting to climb.  The stairs are steep, but not too high yet.

Climbing these is a little tricky

Looking out from the steps, you can see the frame of Lady Liberty.

Our oldest daughter had a really tough time with the climb, but she made it.  I was so proud of her!  In the crown, there is only room for about 10 people at a time. It is very small and doesn’t have a lot of head room. If you’re tall like us, you have to duck to avoid hitting your head. The views out the window of the crown were beautiful, and the inside of the crown itself was very interesting. 

Close quarters in the crown!

There are two park rangers that call the crown their office. They greet each guest that comes up, and make sure that everyone is respectful of the statue. They could tell that our oldest daughter was struggling, so they starting talking and joking with her. In no time at all, they had her laughing and really enjoying herself. They showed us the best spots for getting good pictures, and talked to us for a long time before we descended back down to island level. 

Park ranger stands on this piece of metal.  The drop below him is hundreds of feet.

And...the other ranger

 We grabbed some lunch and hot coffee in the cafeteria and then went outside to wait for the Ellis Island Ferry.   The prices in the cafeteria were very fair, and the food was good.

Both of the girls had an event in elementary school, called “Immigration Day”, which simulated what an immigrant went through at Ellis Island. Although many of the kids would have difficulties like quarantines, missing paperwork, etc. They all eventually made it through and got to enjoy a fun snack at the end. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for many who attempted to immigrate to the U.S. through the real Ellis Island. Many made it all the way to New York, only to die in quarantine or be sent back home. We all really enjoyed our day at the immigration museum, and gained a lot of respect for our ancestors who made it possible for us to live in this great country. 

The registration hall on Ellis Island.  Now part of the Museum.

The registry of immigrants.  Many people are able to find the names of their ancestors here.

A display in the Ellis Island museum

The ferry from Ellis Island returned us to Battery Park on the east end of the island. From there we started walking toward the World Trade Center Memorial. It was nice to see a completely different part of the city, and it actually felt quite warm compared to the ferry rides and islands. I think the buildings blocked a lot of the wind, making it a very pleasant walk. We were amazed by the beauty of the 911 memorial. It is very sobering to realize how many names there are from that tragic day. We reflected at the waterfalls for a few minutes and then paid our admission and went inside the museum. 

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The museum is gorgeous from every angle, which makes it hard to believe it is a tribute to such a sorrowful day. We watched a movie about 9/11 and then started through the museum. The details in the building are amazing and heart-wrenching.  Many of the displays are actual remnants of the building and ladder truck 3 from September 11th, 2001.

Part way through the museum, our youngest daughter got sick, and we ended up leaving before finishing our day. We caught a taxi outside the museum and for a small fee of $18.35 we arrived safely at the curb of our hotel. We got everyone up to the room and let sick girl sleep for a while. Our older daughter and I didn’t want to leave our daughter to go get dinner, so we ordered take-out from a Thai restaurant across the street. They delivered our food to the lobby, and it was some of the best Thai we have ever eaten. We all watched a little TV and called it a night.  What an amazing day in NYC.