Trip of a lifetime!! I love NY!!

Finally the pictures from NYC have arrived! We girls had a fantastic time seeing the sights and just enjoying each other's company. We headed to Jersey City on Saturday morning. Left early because we had 11:15 tickets on the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island. Mom had bought our tickets online Thursday because there weren't but a few left and there were no monument tickets left - the ones that let you get into the actual Statue. When we got to the Jersey City ferry, Kari just happened to ask the guy about monument tickets and he said he had some he could give us!! We were beside ourselves -- you go Sis!

The ferry ride over was chilly but it was so worth it once we got there. Now, all the tour books and stuff say that you can see the islands in 2 - 3 hours... yea right! We hit Liberty Island first - mom had mistakenly bought the audio tour with the tickets but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was, again, worth the few extra dollars. We toured the Island and then got to go into the bottom part of the Statue. She is an amazingly impressive lady in person. Pictures don't do her justice. Quite imposing. It took us forever to tour all that we wanted to see on the Island. We refused to hurry and just enjoyed our time. The security is nuts-o too! We didn't leave the Island until a little after 3 pm and took the ferry to Ellis Island.

Kari and I

Kari and Mom

Here are some of her stats:

From the top of the base to the top of the torch -- @ 151 feet

From the ground to the top of the torch -- @ 305 feet

Length of her index finger -- 8 feet

The copper that she is made of weighs 31 tons and the steel inside her weights 125 tons!!

She was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, a Frenchman. Lady Liberty was a gift to the US from the French. She was shipped to us in pieces and had to wait to be put together because there wasn't anything to stand her on. Joseph Pulitzer, through the use of his newspaper, helped to motivate the American people to donate to the Pedestal Fund. The pedestal was completed in April of 1886. She was dedicated on October 28, 1886. Part of the poem "The New Collosus" by Emma Lazarus is inscribed on a bronze plaque on the interior of the pedestal.

The steel beams inside Lady Liberty



These 2 are incorrigable -- picking Liberty's nose!!

The girls on the Statue of Liberty - NYC behind us

Ellis Island was pretty cool too. We knew that some of our family members had come through Ellis Island and we were able to check out their names on a Wall of Remembrance. We found the name Mc Andrew, Gluck (mom's side) and Ragan. It was definitely a reality check for me as I read through the placards that described all that the immigrants had to go through just to come to the USA and have the freedoms that we have here. I was struck with the urgency that so many had to flee their living conditions in their countries, praying for a better life in the States. And then they got here and they still had it hard. What perseverance they had. We caught the very last ferry off of Ellis Island to go back to Jersey City at 5:15 pm! We had spent ALL day there! But you know, if that was even all that we had done, it STILL would have been worth it.

(And all I could think about while I was there was that movie Hitch with Will Smith -- he takes Eva Mendes here on a date!)

The entrance to Ellis Island

A hallway in the main part of the building where the immigrants would come -- it looked like a white sterile hospital.


The receiving room -- where the immigrants would have to wait before entering the States.




Examples of the baggage that the immigrants would come with.


The Ragan name on the Wall of Remembrance

View of NYC from Ellis Island -- the Twin Towers were behind and to the left of the two dark buildings in the middle of the picture.

He's EVERYWHERE!! Course Mc Cain was on the other side of the sail!