We are up and out early today. We managed to exchange our Statue of Liberty tickets for today – we couldn’t get Crown access, just Pedestal, but quite frankly, that may be better. That Crown is pretty claustrophobic and we all know how well I deal with tight spaces. Not!
It’s cold again today, but not as windy, which helps immensely. Especially since we’ll be on the ferry to the islands and then out in the bay. A 25 minute walk to the subway today – a block farther than yesterday for the #1 line. The train comes in 2 minutes and we load onto one of the first 5 cars – the only cars that allow access to the platform at the South Ferry station.
30 minute uneventful ride to South Ferry. Typical morning NYC subway commute. Mom’s with kids going to school, University students packed on until the Lafayette Street stop. The homeless woman asking for food or money. Typical morning! We hop out at South Ferry and make our way around Battery Park to the Statue ticket booth. We’ve reserved the 10:00 ferry, but we’re early. We just head into the security line anyway and they don’t check the times so we boarded the 9:30 ferry and were off. The earlier the better for the crowds really.
Quick little ferry ride – that we spend inside the entire time – everyone else is running outside to take photos of the Statue – but we’ve already done that and we’re not standing out in that wind. On the island we grab our audio guides which we end up not using at all (oh well), stow our back pack, go through yet another round of security and finally get to the elevator to go up into the Pedestal.
There are rangers everywhere giving us great info – talking about the renovations, and how virtually everything inside the structure is new since 1986. They had to redo a lot of the internal metal structure work and then the pedestal was closed and only reopened in 2004, the Crown in 2009. Nice to know the thing won’t come crashing down on us!
It’s really neat in the Pedestal – you can look up and see the infrastructure and stairs. And there are also original beams in the Pedestal ante-room that are stamped “Carnegie”. That’s way cool! After chatting with the Rangers a bit, we stroll outside for the view. So great – the skyline of NYC and then the close up of the statue itself. Well worth the trip – even if its so cold that Sunny is hibernating and refuses to come out for any photo opps!
Next we head to the museum located in the base of the statue. One of the Rangers told us it was a shame to miss it – and he was so right. A fascinating history of the statue, how she came to be, the design, how she was made, shipped and pieced together. The original amber glass torch is on display – they replaced this torch in 1984 with 24-carat gold leaf covered torch because the original glass frame allowed rain to seep inside, corroding the torch and arm support structure. There are displays inside explaining the everything – and they have the original wooden molds for her toes which are huge and fascinating!
They’ve also got memorabilia and great kitschy stuff like this Statue of Liberty Menorah.
We collect our belongings and head out to the dock to catch the next ferry to Ellis Island. Capturing more great Statue shots – even from inside the ferry!
We’re lucky in that the museum has just re-opened after repairs from Hurricane Sandy. Otherwise it would be a drive by, or sail by! Good thing it is not, because it is an interesting visit. Maybe because we’ve just watched No God No Master, or because we so recently visited Poland and the camps, but walking into the actual building where all the immigrants were registered was amazing. The first floor is the baggage room, and it strikes such a harsh difference from the baggage rooms at Auschwitz. Here, all their belongings are left while they go upstairs for the examination. Where in Poland they are pillaged, here the bags are lined up in an orderly fashion waiting for their owners to return and claim them.
Upstairs, the Registry Room is huge and grand and you can just imagine the rows and rows of people sitting here waiting for their examination and registration. Great original photos help visualize the scene and give you a feel for how it must have been in the early 1900’s, when for 20 years the room was filled every day with new arrivals – they say on many days over 5,000 people would fill this great hall.
There is also a wonderful display downstairs called Journeys: The Peopling of America 1550 – 1890. I’m not much for museums and history and displays, but this one was really informative – and kept even my interest. A very complete and fact filled history of how America came to be the great melting pot that it is today (well, at least until the early 1900s – and we will refrain from making any political comments about the current situation).
After about an hour, we decide to head back and manage to hop on the ferry right before it leaves. Great timing!
Back on the island, we head toward Bridge street and a great little dive bar we’ve read about called the White Horse Tavern. All the reviews say this is a gem in the middle of the financial district. Cheap, local, cozy, if not divey, atmosphere. That’s us! We arrive a little before noon and capture 2 seats at the bar. Good timing there too – because shortly after we arrive, the place is packed, every seat at the bar taken by local, blue collar workers. It is a blast listening to them all, the accents, the cussing, the bantering. Oh geez! Everyone there is drinking beer, and they all put their money on the bar, then the bartender just makes change from whatever is left there. At one point we looked both ways down the long bar and we are the only people that don’t have money in front of us!
There is a little teeny almost cafeteria style kitchen and counter on the opposite wall – where we guess you can get to go food. But people are also going up there, ordering then sitting at tables. Who knows? The bartender does give us menus so we order from her – a Battery sandwich for me (Brisket and Coleslaw on rye) and a Pastrami on Rye for Ed – finally his real NY deli sandwich. Because this is about as real as it gets!
It’s so real, that I won’t even pull out the Purell to clean our hands because I know they’ll either make fun of me or do something that will embarrass me – it’s bad enough I’m drinking wine! Say it ain’t so! I so badly want to take pictures, but I’m not really comfortable doing that either – so I surreptitiously snap a few with the phone.
Yeah, well, you can get the feel for it, I hope! A total blast! And cheap as dirt. Since everyone is using cash, we decide we’ll go with the flow and pay with cash too – don’t want to stand out too too much as the tourists (but heck, since everyone in the place seems local and seems to know each other, it’s a good bet we stick out like sore thumbs!).
Back on the street, we take a great shot of the old architecture and the new, navigate our way to the subway station, then head back uptown. It’s still early, so we decide to brave the cold and jump out at Times Square. You just have to see the madness! The pictures don’t do it justice, but it is truly madness! The billboards, the traffic, the people, the construction, the stores. Geez!
Good to see and say we were there, and good to head back to the ship.
Relaxing rest of the afternoon, nice dinner at our window table while we sail away and watch the city lights fade into the background. Goodbye NYC. Hello Florida.
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