What a Day in New York!

We got a very early start yesterday morning. With our campground being 90 minutes away from New York City, and the cost to drive and park in New York, we decided to take a tour from our campground here in Florida, New York and let them 'do the driving' for us so to speak. We were picked up for the tour a little after 7:00 this morning...with a total of 2 1/2 hours driving to and from, the earlier the start the more you can actually see. Wow, what a day!

Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island - If I had a "bucket list", these two sites would definitely have been on my top 10 list--I've always wanted to see them. Our tour guide took us to the New Jersey side to catch the ferry out to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty (and upon return, we found out why...more about that later). We were ushered on to the ferry headed to Ellis Island. I got goosebumps once we entered Ellis Island, knowing that I had great-great-great grandparents from Ireland that walked right through those same doors I was now standing when they came to America. We were surprised to learn that the majority of buildings on Ellis Island were various hospitals. One for men and another for women, who arrived in America and were sick with disentary, scarlet fever and various other illnesses. But we were really surprised that one of the largest buildings on the small island was a Psychiatric hospital. Not only did folks looking for a new life and opportunity come to America, but foreign countries also would send their "undesirables" to America, i.e., like those mentally ill and those in jail or prison.

The Statue of Liberty - When the ferry pulled around the corner and we got our first glance at the Statue of Liberty, it gave me chill bumps. It made me feel proud that I'm an american when I saw it. We took a tour around the outside and Mark took lot's of pictures. In order to get a tour of the inside, you have to obtain tickets months ahead of time for an assigned date/time, sheesh, we're not organized enough to even know where we'll be week to week! After touring, we stopped by the only place to grab a bite to eat on the island and had a burger and fries. We then needed to head to the ferry for our return trip...Then we understood why our tour guide took us to the New Jersey ferry! The line to return to the New York side was literally 100's and 100's deep, literally wrapping around the Statue of Liberty! The Jersey side? We walked up 15 minutes before our ferry time, and were the only ones in line! (See, sometimes it pays to just let the tour guide do the thinking!) Seeing the Statue of Liberty should be mandatory for all americans...it's part of our heritage...I'm soooooo glad we got to see the Statue of Liberty.

New York City - After returning from Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty, we headed to Manhattan...downtown New York city so to speak. Our first surprise was the sheer size, from the financial district, to SoHo to NoHo, one end to the other. When seeing Manhattan from across the bay at the Statue of Liberty, it's just breathtaking how Big it is. Not only the sheer size of the buildings, but the 2 1/2 - 3 miles in length. We found out that a one bedroom 600 square foot apartment in Manhattan would run $10M to $25M, depending on where it was located...whereas the same apartment on the Jersey side would 'only' cost $3M...(they just give 'em away don't they?)

911 - The first stop in Manhattan and where we spent a great deal of time, were multiple locations associated with the 911 terrorists attacks. We were first shown where 911 occurred. A single building of 108 stories, same length as the originals, is being built now. The other section is being reserved as a rememberance of those lost, including the 1800 people that were never recovered. Our tour guide had many stories about 911 including gruesome detail of a 30 story building he pointed out, which was next to one of the burning towers, and that many body parts that were found of those attemping to jump and missed...(sorry, told you it was gruesome). We were taken to St Paul church, where many volunteers found sleep on a cot and food while taking a break. We went to the fire station next to the twin towers, that were all lost as first responders. We were also taken to the temporary location of the only remaining steel from the twin towers...which was a two pieces of steel in the shape of a cross and will be placed into the 911 museum when it's finished. Just lot's and lot's of information on 911. Sobering, but glad we got to see it.

The Real New York - We spent the remainder of the afternoon checking out everything from Broadway to Fifth Avenue and the Theatre District and everything in between. It's exactly as we envisioned it would be. We were shown the building in which John Lennon was gunned down, to the penthouse that Leona Helmsley left her cats and many many other sites. We got a small break towards the end of the day...directly across the street from one of my favorite foods in the whole world...Juniors Cheesecake! Needless to say I went straight across the street for a big old piece of Cherry Cheesecake...Yum! Mark grabbed a coffee at Starbucks and we walked up and down the Theatre district where all the Broadway shows are located. There were as many people crammed into this small area as we imagined there would be...and it was an awesome place to visit but we'd never want to live there--even if we were given a $25M penthouse!

Whew! As you can tell, it was an action packed day. We were both totally exhausted by the time we got back home. It was a long, exhausting day but we had a wonderful time. With the Labor Day Holiday just around the corner and lack of local campgrounds on the East coast, we decided to extend our stay here in Florida, New York for a week and will be here until next Wednesday. We've decided to move inland next, to Buffalo, New York to spend a few days in Niagra Falls. From there we'll head towards Maine and begin working our way southward down the Eastern seaboard. The majority of campgrounds in the Eastern United States close in mid-October...so we only have a few weeks to complete our Eastern seaboard journey.

Well, that just about wraps up our time in New York...we're planning on taking a tour of West Point Military Academy this week and I'll update once we've checked it out. Until later...~