I’m preparing to cater a wedding this coming weekend so I’ve been figuring up amounts and now the cooking is beginning. It’s a simple menu of soup & salad, so that’s nice. But that’s why I haven’t been around much this week. 🙂

Our last day in New York City we went to see Lady Liberty which has been a dream of mine for years. It was a cool, windy day and the lines were long.

Buy your tickets ahead of time (and save more time by printing them out instead of will call) because if you don’t, you will be waiting in lines (one for buying tickets and another for the ferry) for hours. I had purchased tickets ahead of time and I had picked the time of noon to go on our tour. I didn’t know it but you cannot get in the line that takes you to the ferry which transports you to Liberty Island until your appointed time. It’s not a short line either. You also will be going through security – similar to the airports.

On the ferry at last!

There she is!

Isn’t she majestic?!

Although I was unable to get tickets to go into the crown, we did have tickets to go into the pedestal which gives you access to a museum that the general public cannot go into unless they have paid to go to the pedestal or crown. The museum was really good, small but informative.

The actual size of Lady Liberty’s face.

The pedestal was completed in 1886 and then the statue was assembled…

The workers were pretty brave because they sat on a type of swing as they worked. Not one person lost their life while it was being assembled.

The original torch on Lady Liberty was replaced because of deterioration and another one was put in it’s place.

(the original torch)

View from the pedestal.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”  –Emma Lazarus

The skyline of NYC from Liberty Island (aka Bedloe Island)

The ferry also takes you to Ellis Island where over 12 million immigrants were processed from 1892-1954.

Generally, those immigrants who were approved spent from two to five hours at Ellis Island. Arrivals were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money carried. It was important to the American government that the new arrivals could support themselves and have money to get started. The average the government wanted the immigrants to have was between 18 and 25 dollars ($600 in 2015 adjusted for inflation). Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island’s hospital facilities for long periods of time. More than three thousand would-be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities. Some unskilled workers were rejected because they were considered “likely to become a public charge.” About 2 percent were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as having a chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity.^[37] Ellis Island was sometimes known as “The Island of Tears” or “Heartbreak Island”^[38] because of those 2% who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage. The Kissing Post is a wooden column outside the Registry Room, where new arrivals were greeted by their relatives and friends, typically with tears, hugs and kisses. –Wikipedia

Immigration hall at Ellis Island

We definitely could have spent more time at Ellis Island but the last ferry was heading out and we had to go.

Our last evening with our precious friends…

A special cake for us that said, “God bless you.”

Our first visit to New York City was amazing and memorable and we appreciated everything our hosts did for us! We will never forget their gracious hospitality.

Next stop Connecticut!

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