Lady Liberty
On the last really sunny day we had in New York we took a ferry from Battery Park to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. As expected the Statue of Liberty was pretty cool, the gift shop was ridiculous, and the views of Manhattan were amazing. We did the obligatory posing with Lady Liberty and laughed at everyone else doing exactly the same thing. Then we got back on the boat and headed to Ellis Island, which was unexpectedly emotional. Before we got there I was like ‘yeah yeah, it’s the place where all the immigrants arrived, I guess it will be kind of interesting’ but I didn’t expect it to be so real, so recent, and so engaging. We spent ages wandering around the museum hearing stories of people’s journeys to the new world, seeing the things they brought with them from home, feeling their hope and determination and pain and joy. It was fascinating and surprisingly emotional, and definitely a highlight of my time in NYC.
Such cool pics! I had a great time when I went in 2001. It was obviously a different view back then, too!