Lady Liberty
Jon and I haven’t had a chance to get back into the swing of exploring NYC yet in 2010, we really need to get on that. Hopefully we’ll have a fun NYC adventure this weekend. I thought I would take you back to July 26, 2008 and our visit to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. I can’t believe that I didn’t blog about this day when it occurred, because it was amazing! I hadn’t been to the Statue of Liberty since I was probably 11 (?) so 19 years ago (almost 20…eek…I’m getting old!) Jon had never been. We were both excited to go explore these historical New York monuments that hold such significance to this city and its residents past and present.
I read up a lot on how to plan your visit to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, because those of us that live in NYC have seen that line and we did not want to wait in it. We reserved our tickets beforehand, which saved us a lot of time. We also made sure to book our reservations for the first boats at 9AM. We got there early with our tickets and breezed right through security, no wait! I highly recommend being extrememly organized when visiting these monuments. The boat departs from Castle Clinton, a historical “monument” in it’s own right. It was built to keep out the British during the War of 1812 but has since had many uses. We spent some time exploring the area before we boarded our boat.
The first part of our day, the boat ride itself, is so fun. We enjoyed great views not only of Lady Liberty and Ellis Island but of NYC as well. Once we arrived we quickly rented Audio Guides for our walk around the Island. It was incredibly interesting to learn about the history of Lady Liberty. From her trip from France to the USA to America coming together and raising the money needed (sometimes one penny at a time) to pay for the pedestal and erect her onto the pedestal that she currently stands on. We probably spent a good hour walking around the Island, visiting the different exhibits and of course admiring the Lady herself. I have to say, I never am not amazed by her beauty.
Ellis Island
Afterwards, we boarded the next boat and headed over to Ellis Island. Ellis Island is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. It just gives me chills being there, knowing how many peoples hopes and dreams for a “new life” for them and their families came through these corridors hoping to make it on to New York City. There is just so much to do, see and learn here it is almost overwhelming. We of course, rented audio guide tours, for our visit.
The Ceiling of the Waiting/Processing Room
The most amazing part of the museum is the waiting room, hearing stories of how people made it this far only to be turned away for some ailment, how families were seperated and united, just imaging everything that went on in that large hall. The exhibits throughout the museum are definitely interesting as well. We explored and explored and explored until we didn’t have anything left in our tanks. Then we headed outside to the wall of names of all the immigrants who went through Ellis Island. There were a lot of people with my maiden name and my married name but none of them were relatives. While my paternal grandparents did emmigrate to the US from Ireland specifically to NYC they did not come through Ellis Island. It still makes me feel like I have some understanding of what their experience might have been like though.
The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island are NOT to be missed, whether you’re just visiting NYC for a week or a couple of days or whether you’ve lived here your whole life and just never made time. Go, Go, Go!!!! You won’t regret the experience.
Post in Comments:
Have you been to the Statue of Liberty and/or Ellis Island?
