Lady Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was one of those landmarks I really didn't have much interest in seeing, but like the Eiffel Tower, it really is more than I expected in person. It was one of the trip highlights

We started off the day early because we didn't want to miss the ferry to the island and thank goodness we had the time buffer because we got lost and weren't sure where we were supposed to be going. Google led us to a parking lot that seemed far away from anything that looked like a ferry terminal. We re-googled and then found a much bigger parking lot near an old railroad station. We went into the terminal to see if that was where we were supposed to be and while we were much closer than we were before, we weren't quite there yet. We had to go next door to a much smaller, very much less historic boxy building to check in.

Trains used to leave from here

Many miles of track in this area, now all overgrown because we all have cars and planes exist.

inside the old train station

Having gone through ferry security where my bra hooks set off the metal detector (several other women's bra hooks also set it off and Jim's titanium hips did too and we all got wanded), we were in line to board the ferry.

Here comes Miss Freedom, the ferry boat

The station is a nice building

I like a ferry ride!

Jersey City and New York City

More nice views. The weather was very cooperative.

And again, the station

Ellis Island: the ferry stopped there to let people off and allow some to board. Jim and I stayed on.

Look at this little birdie! It sat very nicely for a picture.

She's so much more majestic in person

I could have taken pictures all day

We were still on the ferry at this point. Everyone on the boat was leaning over the rail to snap a pic.

Coming around to the backside were the dock was

We did not have tickets to go up to the crown (apparently they are difficult to come by because they only let a few up per day and those tickets get snapped up fast) but we did have tickets to the base. These are the stairs to go up to the crown. 

Looking up her toga

The walkway around the base is very good for panoramic views, but I kinda like being this close to Lady Lib. She welcomes immigrants, gives them light to see by. We all should be welcoming and helping. 

I have no idea what bridge that is.

Looking down on the other visitors. You can see the ferry in the upper right. 

Cities in the distance

I like all these shipping cranes.

The shadow

The base walkway is the little lip underneath the statue. We were up there. This picture was taken from the vantage point of a lower veranda on the base. You have to have a base ticket to access. Otherwise you just have to take your photos from the ground level. 

You can see heads on the base walkway.

We were there!

Saying goodbye. We spent some time in the gift shop buying t-shirts for grandkids. 

We'll spend the rest of the day in NYC