New York Vacation Day 8 - Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Brooklyn Bridge, and 9/11 Memorial

Wow you guys! Today was one of my favorites for one reason, but one of my least favorites so far for another reason. Let me warn you this was a big day, it will be a huge post, and will have lots of pictures. I'll start from the beginning...

We had to get up super early...like earlier than we would if we were back home even. Our tickets to the Statue were for 8 AM, it takes about 30-45 minutes to get down to Battery Park from the Subway, I need about an hour to get up, ready, un-pack and repack (to find our outfits for the day), and wake Larry up, therefore we had to be up by 6...yeesh. We were also going to fit in Ellis Island and any catch-up activities today. I was really nervous about the morning because, like I said, our tickets were for 8 and when I looked online at the ferry before we left it said the first one didn't leave until 8:30 so I wasn't sure how we'd be able to get this figured out, but luckily we weren't the only ones to get an early start and we were able to figure our way to where we needed to be. Here's one thing I didn't know: there is an airport-like security area to get onto the Ferry...I didn't realize they'd be like that, and I feel they took it a little too seriously (I don't even think the airport does that much...but maybe that's why they have a 95% failure rate).

The Ferry to Liberty Island was pretty cool, most people rushed to the top, but I liked the bottom best. For one you aren't in the sun so you don't get as hot as quickly and for another you get off quicker to go up to the Statue faster...that's what I came for. Now I knew this day was coming, but for the last couple of days I really started to get nervous about the stairs. I mean I take the stairs to work (and we're on the top/4th floor), but that's only about 100 stairs, this would be closer to 400, but I told myself it wasn't a race and I'd get to the top when I got there and to just enjoy it. Very first impression of the Statue though was that she is much tinier than I thought she'd be, still magnificent, but tiny. There's only about 80 or so stairs from the pedestal to the top so if you can make it to that point you might as well go all the way up. The only issue is after the Pedestal the stairs get steep and very enclosed and turn into a circular patter rather than a square one. I also felt weird because when I got to the top I was all alone with two workers.  This might be more ideal for some, but I felt weird, like I had intruded on their conversation. So I quickly got up to the windows, took my pictures, looked out at the view, and then headed back down to meet Larry (I could only get one ticket to the top and one to the pedestal). Once back down I decided I wanted to walk around more and take more pictures. Larry was definitely done since it was such an early start, but I wanted to soak it in as much as possible.

Very distant picture from the Ferry

See how small? The Pedestal section is
The one RIGHT below her feet

View from the Pedestal

Kind of captures how steep the
Stairs are, but only a little bit.

All the way up to the top

 

Inside of the crown...it was very stuffy and the windows are
Smaller than they appear

I wish I could've seen her torch
From the Top, but this was as
Close as I could get

Look how monstrous those bolts are!

I'm in awe!

Total stairs to each section

One of my favorite shots...Manhattan Skyline with
The Statue of Liberty

After that part we went over to the ferry station to find it was just finishing boarding to go to Ellis Island so we lucked out in that we didn't have to wait to get on. Ellis Island was so amazing! I didn't realize there would be so much history and awesome things to see there. They had pictures of how it looked when immigrants came over and what they went through to become a citizen. I remember they played that "Proud to Be An American" song over at Liberty Island, but I felt it was better suited for this area. I've never been so proud to be born here when so many people had to fight and give up so much to have that same right. I think my favorite part was going through the Psychological tests they gave them. There was this diamond test where they had them draw a diamond, but they had it separated into sections of those who had never even held a pencil before, some that had held a pencil, but had no education, and the third section of those who had held a pencil and had some education...it was crazy. They also had these chalk marks for their clothes based on any diseases or disabilities they had. There were a bunch of quotes of people who experienced it as well. One lady said her sister had warts and they thought it was a fatal disease so they marked her with an X to say she wasn't healthy enough, but then her sister lied to the place telling them she got it on the boat or something that explained them better and she was able to come through. There was also a quote about a boy who had no money and he was afraid because he heard this officer asking others if they had $0.25. This boy got up to the officer and told them he had the money, even though he didn't, but he was afraid of what would happen if he said he didn't. The officer ended up letting him go through and never asked to see the money. I had no idea it was such an ordeal or how the island had been used over time. I guess during WWII they used it as an "enemy alien jail" sort of thing and they kept people there that had no papers. At the end of the war they went through everyone who was on the island as though they were new citizens and made them go through all the steps to become one again. If they were illegal and somehow got lucky before and made it through they were caught this time and sent back. I guess the very last guy to be let free was a sailor who was here on some sort of leave that got stuck there...needless to say they let him go through just fine, but can you imagine how mad his military leaders must have been when he didn't report back? Oh and the very first person who had come through Ellis Island was just a 10 year-old girl who received $10 for the occasion. She died really early though, at 47 for an infection of some sort. Sorry I'm going on and on, but I found this to be so fascinating and I don't want to forget these details.

Ellis Island!

Herded like cattle with only
What they could carry

How it used to look...

 

...How it looks now

Old beds they used.

The markings for disabilities
And diseases

The chalk markings on the clothes

The steps to get through the Island

After Ellis Island we found our way to the ferry dock and luckily got right on once again to be sent back to Battery Park. By this time it was really early in the day still. I mentioned to Larry that since we were in the area we could always go over to the Brooklyn Bridge and the 9/11 Memorial since there was time and if we did that we could skip them tomorrow and have a relaxer day then. He was very much in favor of that haha.

Brooklyn Bridge...this way

My best shot of the bridge

Please ignore hair and red faces
It was really hot by this point and
I'd just climbed 377 stairs

Brooklyn Bridge was interesting to see, but nothing too special...it was a bridge after all. It was really crowded so we only walked it halfway to take our pictures and then turn around. I did end up getting some street art for us and my grandma because I found it to be really fascinating. It may not seem like much, but I was obsessed with it and thought it would be a good way to say Thank You to her for driving us. This was when it got really warm and it was close to 2 (our City Passes wouldn't let us get into the 9/11 Museum until 2 so we had to wait) so we decided to head over to the 9/11 Memorial Pools to look around a bit.

The South Pool

Plaque at the South Pool. Bottom left is Renee

The new World Trade Center

Here's where the day took a turn. The pools were really spectacular, I wasn't expecting them to be so moving. They have these plaques surrounding them with names of anyone and everyone who was involved/effected by the 9/11 happenings. It started to get really sad though when I realized the pools where were the buildings stood and in one of my pictures I saw one of the names said a Renee something and her unborn child (queue the start of tearing up). I started to look around at the other buildings and think how close they are to where these stood and yet they look as if they were untouched. They obviously weren't newly remodeled or cleaned up so it's as if nothing happened near them...it was almost eerie. I also started to think about the day this all happened. I will never forget I was in 8th grade and was at my friend Christie's house, her mom used to take me to school with her. She had the news on, but was doing her makeup. I used to be so weird and would just stand in her room waiting for her, I felt weird watching her so I watched the news this time. That's when I saw the one building was smoking. Right then the second plane hit the second building and I thought "what did I just see? Did that pilot just fly right into that building? Is he blind or did the smoke block his view? It's not on fire so maybe I just saw something...what is going on right now?" I had NO idea how big of a deal this was, how many people were effected, or that it was even remotely related to terrorism (I did know I wouldn't ever forget what I saw though). All day long we watched the news at school to hear new developments. Being there that day it really started to hit me a little how scary this must have been. After sitting under a tree for a bit to rest our feet we finally decided to go to the museum (plus some bagpipers were starting to play and those will get my crying almost right away and I didn't want to cry).


The fire truck that melted



Part of one of the buildings

Again the museum has an airport-like security, which I found to be almost ironic in a way, but they weren't as serious as the Statue of Liberty security was. You still have to take off belts, shoes, Fitbits, jewelry, purses, and phones, but I'm pretty sure they weren't even watching my stuff as it went through. The museum had an odd layout, we went to the gift shop first because we thought that's where it started, then we realized you have to go down the stairs that's on the other side to start. They had a few mementos from the day, but not enough to fill how big the building was. I think the coolest thing was this fire truck that was a responder to the fires...it was partially melted on the back because of everything. There was this thing that was like an extra museum in the museum so we decided to walk through that. Let me tell you, I'm now referring to this as the torture chamber. You walk through this thing that has way more memorabilia in it, but some of it is really random, like Yankee tickets from that night's game or a school calendar from September 2001 (with no notations on it so it really could've been any calendar) or a backpack from a school nearby. I wasn't sure why any of those were really relevant, but then later you get to some Firemen's gear and some pictures and webcam videos. There was one that showed the first plane hitting (I'm kind of suspicious as to why that guy had his webcam pointing right at the twin towers that morning). Then as you go through you start to hear interviews of people who helped out, some news reports from that morning, voicemails from some people who were trapped in the building, quotes are on the walls from people who called loved ones from the planes...ugh it was so heart wrenching, it was like living the day all over again, only this time I fully understood how devastating it really was. Then was the worst part, a section that had pictures of people actually jumping from the building...I completely lost it there! All I kept thinking is those people had no idea when they went to work what was to come. The terrorists on those planes knew something that no one else knew, that they would die soon. No one saw it coming until it was too late and all they could do was panic and call their loved ones. Luckily they had a tissue stand nearby because I needed it. Poor Larry had no idea what to do with me, I don't think he expected that reaction. I ended up getting so nauseous from it and had to hurry out. I'm sorry, but I couldn't ever go back to that museum again, it was way too emotional. We ended up missing a lot because I just couldn't handle being in it anymore...so be prepared for all that if you do go (if it helps, the room with the jumpers is blocked off and has a warning sign outside of it so it's not one you'd just stumble upon if you go)

Luckily after this we could head back to our hotel and relax...I really needed it. Plus we had our Serendipity reservations tonight and I was excited to get all dressed up again. Although I did learn my shoes for dressing up weren't made for walking so we had to take the subway again, but now we had our own Metro Cards to it made it easier. Oh my gosh, dinner was so yummy! I was going to wait until after I ate to order a frozen hot chocolate (because you can't go there and NOT get one) but decided halfway through that it was now or never haha. Unfortunately, since Larry has his chocolate intolerance issue he couldn't share, but he did get a strawberry drink that seemed to be as close to my treat as you could get. I ended up getting the raviolis there and they were pretty yummy. I read some reviews that said it's so touristy it's not really worth going to, but I argue that one! It was some of the yummier food we've had so far (minus that Italian Restaurant we went to) and it was such a cute place. My only issue is we drank a lot so I had to go to the bathroom really badly and I didn't see where there's were so we had to hurry back to the hotel after dinner.

Overall it was a good day with some bumps, but I'm glad we got to see it all and now we can relax a bit more tomorrow. I think I'm going to make reservations at the Cat Café they have here...I almost forgot they had it again. Hopefully they have some openings in the few days we have left (I can't believe we're past the halfway point now!).