Woke up at 6:30am and got out of bed at 7. I showered and unpacked, then headed down to the gift shop at 7:30 to look for my hat. Although hope springs eternal, they unsurprisingly did not have the exact same hat I bought there 3 years ago. :o(
I went back to the room where Todd was getting ready. We walked across the street and at 8:10 we had breakfast at the 810 Deli & Cafe. I split a protein wrap with Todd, and had a Bolthouse Farms (funny, I just realized it was Bolthouse, not Boathouse) strawberry banana smoothie to drink. Our local Kroger sometimes has these on sale 2 for 1, and they are tasty.
Today we had early reservations for the Statue of Liberty, so after breakfast we got on the 1 train at 50th and took it downtown to the South Ferry station. We arrived at the ferry landing at 9am and were able to go immediately through the airport-style security and onto the first boat of the day with no waiting. This was a huge change from April of 2011 when even with advance tickets we had to wait 2 hours to get through security and on to the boat.
Leaving the Battery Park ferry dock, looking at One World Trade Center
To visit the Statue of Liberty, you must book ferry passage through Statue Cruises. You can (and should) do this in advance, or at the ticket booth in Battery Park on the Manhattan side, or Liberty State Park on the New Jersey side. A reserved time ticket allows you to queue for the security line at the designated time. After going through security you wait in a line to board the ferry which departs every 25 minutes. If you don't buy tickets in advance, you have to wait in line for the ticket booth, then return at the designated time to wait in line at security, then wait in line for the ferry. Keep in mind once you're on the island you'll also have to wait for a ferry to come to take you off.
Lady Liberty
The basic ticket gets you access to the island where there is an information center, gift shop, cafe, etc. There are a limited number of tickets available each to visit the pedestal, where you can climb a buttload of steps (215) up inside the pedestal to the foot of the statue (the base of the statue, not the statue's foot). Once at the top of the pedestal there's an outside observation deck to walk around.
Coming around the south end of the island and the downtown view
There are also a limited number of tickets available each day to climb to the top of the statue and look out the crown. These sell out months in advance - we were able to get pedestal tickets, but not crown tickets. Access to the crown from the pedestal is another 162 steps, 146 of which are up a narrow double-helix spiral staircase. At the top is a small platform looking out of the crown that can hold approximately 10 people at time. Afterwards, it's back down the spiral staircase.
Once on the island, we headed to the tent which served as the entrance to the statue. We had to go through airport-style security a 2nd time. There's a small gift shop in the tent, then a room with a 3rd security checkpoint and lockers. If we had had a backpack or other container, or food, or liquid other than water, we would have had to store it in a locker at that point.
Entering the base of the statue
Fun fact: The statue took approximately 30 years to slowly oxidize from it's original brownish copper color to the green shade we know today.
After the last security check we walked, slowly, up to the observation deck and took in the views.
The original torch on exhibit inside the statue's base
This shot gives a better idea of the size
Lady Liberty, you look big to me
Liberty casts a shadow
We traded picture-taking duties with another family - I hope theirs turned out as well as ours!
Ferry landing
Another view of the torch before leaving
This is an actual-size replica of the statues face, showing the original color. I forgot to get someone in the shot for scale, but the face is a little over 8 feet tall. If I stood beside it, the top of my head would be next to her eye.
Enjoying the view
I love this photo of Todd's - Turn to clear vision
We then headed back down and went to the Crown Cafe for lunch. I had ordered a turkey panini with salad and a pineapple cup, but somehow ended up with a veggie panini. The bread was mush, but the big pieces of eggplant and squash? were tasty. We sat outside and tried hard not to be attacked by the throngs of seagulls that were fighting for french fries that the people around us were throwing to them despite the signs everywhere that asked them not to do that exact thing. It was just like "The Birds." Luckily none of us were pooped upon. Most days, no matter how bad a day you're having at work or whatever, you can hang onto that one silver-lining thought: "At least I wasn't pooped on today."
Most days.
Sometimes it's just too shitty a day.
After lunch we checked out the gift shop and walked around the around. When we'd had our fill we lined up for the departing ferry. We only had to wait about 15 minutes and were able to get on the first boat that arrived. Next stop: Ellis Island.
New York on the right, New Jersey on the left
Fun Fact: The Statue of Liberty is actually in New Jersey waters, however Liberty Island and its improvements are a part of New York
Once we disembarked at Ellis Island, we watched a short documentary movie about immigration that I think was made in the 80s and was narrated by Gene Hackman (it was hard to stay awake because it was incredibly warm and we were tired). We also explored some exhibits and walked through the great hall. Portions of the island and museum were still closed due to the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and many of the artifacts and exhibits were removed for storage.
We stopped in the cafe before we left and split a black and white cookie, then we queued up for the ferry back to Battery Park. We only waited about 10 minutes for this one.
The 4 train at the Bowling Green station took us to Fulton Street, and then we walked to the 9/11 memorial and museum. I was not looking forward to this, as it's still so raw when I watch the footage of that day.
One World Trade Center
The memorial consists mainly of 2 large, black, square pools of cascading water that are placed where the original towers stood. Standing at the edge of the pool, you can't see the bottom of the recessed area in the middle of each.
One of the memorial pools
The museum leads you down a ramp underground where you can see the footprints and foundation components of the two towers, the gigantic slurry wall, exhibits about the events leading up to 9/11, the events on that day, and recovery/rebuilding efforts afterwards. Appropriately, it's like walking down into a giant tomb. While a few of the exhibits felt a little forced (the only unbroken window is a curiosity, but not significantly relevant), the museum as a whole is well designed and can have a powerful impact. It certainly brought back the horrible moments of that day and the aftermath as each exhibit opened a new floodgate of very bad memories, and they (the exhibits) never seemed to end. I held up ok, but couldn't help but wonder after we had ascended back into the night air how many people broke down down there.
A pool at night
We left the museum at 7pm in a very different mood than when we entered. We walked to the World Trade Center subway station and took the E train to 42nd Street. From there we walked to St. Andrews Restaurant and Bar for dinner. The downstairs area was the bar, and the upstairs area was the restaurant. There was only one other occupied table upstairs, so we were able to relax and have a nice, quiet evening to a long day.
A view from the table
For my meal I had the prix-fixe theater dinner and chose Cock-a-Leekie soup, the 12oz New York Strip steak (which was overcooked, but still good), whipped potatoes, 2 glasses of an unknown Pinot Noir, and the best creme brulee I have ever, ever tasted.
The last bite of Todd's filet surrounded by a vortex of red-wine reduction remains
The restaurant would just like you to know that this wall is not currently smoking (wow, look at that fivehead)
We got back to the hotel around 9:45 and turned in for the night.
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