The Statue of Liberty

Thursday was our last full day in New York City. We were up early for a visit to the Statue of Liberty. We boarded the first boat out to Liberty Island at 8:30AM, and enjoyed the 15-minute voyage. It was a very foggy morning, so we didn't have much of a view of the statue as we arrived. After an hour-long wait in line, we passed through security (for the second time) and headed up to the observation level. Before 9-11, Jennifer and I walked all the way up to the crown, but not anymore. Visitors are only allowed to the feet of the actual statue these days. Still, it was 154 steps to the observation deck, and I was carrying Joshua the whole way. What a workout! The weather cleared while we were in line, so it was a nice view. Josh enjoyed the boat rides, but he wasn't impressed with Miss Liberty, or the brief stop afterwards at Ellis Island. Back at Battery Park, we took the short walk to Ground Zero. It was sad being there knowing how beautiful the World Trade Center was when Jennifer and I visited it just 10 years ago, but it was really sad seeing the dozens of the hucksters selling trinkets, junk souvenirs, and bad artwork of the WTC at the place where thousands of people had died tragically. As sad as it was, it was nice to see the work being done to the entire area. The place was a beehive of activity. There were hundreds of construction workers buzzing around laying the groundwork for the Freedom Tower. We had a great dinner at the Olive Garden in Times Square, then visited the Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum. Justin had been eyeballing it for 3 days, and was thrilled when we finally found time to go in. Believe it or not, we paid $25 each to get in. Ouch. After dropping Jennifer and the boys off at the hotel to go to sleep, I took the subway downtown to Greenwich Village to check out Bleecker Bob's Records. It was fun to visit, but I didn't see anything worth buying. Maybe next time. Tomorrow we're off to Boston...