STATUE OF LIBERTY AND ELLIS ISLAND

Headed North

SUN July 18

Last night I was thinking about how far ahead of my timeline I was and what I should do to get back on schedule because of the airplane reservation I have on AUG 4. I could have spent more time in the Shenandoah region but I decided to drive up to Naval Weapons Station Earle New Jersey RV Park and use time to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I had these two sites on my list for after returning from Denver and after Washington DC but this way I’ll either have more time in New England or Canada or I’ll just have more time.

The ride up was nice mostly on Interstate highways and paying tolls, $50.05, and I got here in 8-hours.

Oh, I keep forgetting to tell you about my Eureka! moment. My morning routine is to brush my teeth, shave, and shower, comb my hair, put on deodorant and get dressed. Traveling in the trailer I usually brush my teeth in the trailer and do all the rest in the RV bathrooms. Sometimes this get changed around a bit, say maybe for some reason I showered the night before so I might do everything in the trailer. Anyway on several occasions the LP gas leak detector in the trailer would sometime go off and I wondered if that had anything to do with my using the trailer hot water heater. Good question but no because I usually use park electricity to heat water. Then Eureka, it’s the Right Guard spray deodorant that sets off the alarm squawking. So from now on it’s either the park bathroom or stand outside in the AM and spray my armpits.


TUE July 20

TODAY WAS THE STATUE OF LIBERTY AND ELLIS ISLAND AND AGAIN WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!!!

I got up early because I was warned about how bad the traffic was in the morning and so with a 9:00 AM ferry reservation and a 1-hour drive I factored in a 2-hour drive and made it to Liberty State Park in Jersey City NJ before they even opened and got on the 8:30 ferry, not traffic problems.

And there were a ton of Boy Scouts on tour today. Seems as if the yearly National Jamboree is being held at Fort A.P. Hill in VA again so the Scout troops were flying in to NYC or NJ, doing local tours then going to Valley Forge and Gettysburg and then AP Hill. I got them today but will miss them when I do DC because they will be gone.

I got on the ferry and the first stop was Ellis Island. I spent 3-hours on Ellis Island and looked at about everything they would let me into. What an experience, the displays were very powerful and moving and really accurately portrayed a great time in our nation-building, it was also very inspiring. The displays, narratives and video took you step-by-step through making a decision to leave a homeland and journey to a far-away and unknown land either by yourself or with your family and the difficulties and joys you would encounter.

One thing I missed at Ellis Island was the American Family Immigration History Center and I wish I had known about this and come prepared. They have but the records, steamship passenger manifests, of immigrants traveling through Ellis Island on a computer database and you can look up relatives or anyone you know who passed through. I’m sure you can also find this other places but this was really the setting in which to do it.

Back on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty; I had a ticket that got me to the Statue and into the base and museum areas. I did not have a ticket to go to the crown area, those tickets are sold out until OCT, and so you really have to plan ahead. No one except maintenance/preservation folks are allowed to go to the torch. But I first walked totally around the outside of the Statue base and then entered and took the tour that included the original torch that had been modified for electric lights, that caused the interior supports to start to corrode and why it had to be replaced, and then we move through the museum with excellent explanations of the various displays.

After the tour ended we were allowed to climb, the elevator was broken, some 165 steps inside to the top of the base, there are 3 levels, and look through a plexiglas ceiling into the Statue and see the supporting framework. Puff, puff, puff. I spent 2 1/2 hours at the Statue of Liberty.

One of the things I thought was great about the day was the many foreign languages I kept hearing during the day and the excitement in voices when a person “discovered” a picture of someone or money from their home country and called the other in their group to share with them, I know this made their day special for them. But then I am naive in a lot of ways and why wouldn’t foreign visitors to the area make a special point of visiting these two enduring symbols of our great country.

And naturally since I am a people watcher I have to say that tourist will be tourist anywhere they are and are easy to spot in their “tourist uniforms.”

If you are ever close to NYC you HAVE TO make the time, it takes an entire day, to go to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, you just have to.

I took a lot of pictures and have only included a couple with this blog, to see the rest, copy and paste this link to your web browser: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=562657958803%3A1071739182&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee