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You are here: Home / fun / Lady Liberty #adventures #NYC

Lady Liberty #adventures #NYC

November 27, 2015 by admin

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! If you’re just joining me, Friday posts concern our extended NYC visit (five months).

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Headed to Lady Liberty from the ferry.
Headed to Lady Liberty from the ferry.

We’ve been coming to NYC regularly since 2006, but until now have not visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which is part of the Statue of Liberty National Park system. This time around, we weren’t going to miss it!

If you plan to go to NYC and want to see Lady Liberty, make your plans well in advance — especially if you want to go up into the crown (there’s more scheduling flexibility if you just want to go to the pedestal). We ordered our tickets about 60 days ahead of time.

You’ll need to provide photo I.D. and go through two airport-style security lines to get to see her.

As the ferry took us over to Liberty Island, I couldn’t help but think of my great-grandfather, who arrived in 1896 at the ripe old age of 20 and would have seen the Statue of Liberty while she was just a youngster, having herself arrived from France in 1886. What a sight, both for him and for me!

I recommend visiting the museum first, because if you go into the statue as we did, you’ll have to surrender your audioguide and get another one later.

View from the inside.
View from the inside.

You can reach the pedestal via wide, easy stairs, and the views of the city from there are incredible. We went up into the crown, but the path up there is a narrow, spiral staircase (one stair for going up, the other for going down). I had to stop on one of the landings because my claustrophobia kicked in.

Frankly, the crown isn’t that big of a deal. The windows looking out are tiny, and we spent all of about five minutes up there. Plus, if you go up in the summer, it’s stifling hot.

Turns out that product placement and merchandising aren’t recent innovations. Both were used to raise funds to build and transport the statue!IMG_3854

 

As we moved on to Ellis Island, I learned that it served as the main immigration portal for a relatively short time — 1892 to 1954. Most of my ancestors had spent generations in America, so the number of my ancestors who passed through Ellis Island is fairly small.

Also, the building my great-grandfather would have seen upon his arrival burned to the ground in 1897, so my view upon the ferry’s approach is very different from what his would have been.

For a small fee, you can research your family’s arrival to Ellis Island, but this information is also available online for free.

Though I was excited about seeing both the Statue and Ellis Island, I was ill-prepared for how emotional it would be for me. Millions came, many after long and arduous journeys on crowded ships with poor conditions. They came with little or no money, some with no knowledge of English, and they made a life here.

 

Nadine Galinsky Feldman is the author of The Foreign Language of Friends and the upcoming What She Knew, available March 2016. If you enjoy this blog, please consider purchasing a book or signing up for the newsletter to learn about upcoming promotions and giveaways.

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Filed Under: fun, travel Tagged With: history, NYC, status of liberty, tourism, travel

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gwynnrogers
gwynnrogers
7 years ago

What a wonderful post. When I was in NYC the Statue of Liberty was closed as they were working on her, so with the scaffolding surrounding her she looked as if she was in jail. I’m sure it was an emotional visit. What a wonderful way to celebrate Thanksgiving. It does give you a LOT to be thankful for!

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admin
Author
admin
7 years ago
Reply to  gwynnrogers

It’s a shame you missed seeing her. It’s really something to see her up close! We actually went about three weeks ago, but I wrote the post right away. Since I’m deep into revising a novel, it’s handy to have some posts saved up.

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Anabel Marsh
Anabel Marsh
7 years ago

Changed days – we just turned up and bought tickets in March 2001. I don’t suppose such ease of visiting will ever return ;-( I agree the visiting the crown didn’t add much, and Ellis Island was very poignant.

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Anabel Marsh
Anabel Marsh
7 years ago
Reply to  Anabel Marsh

That was not meant to be a wink! 🙁

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admin
Author
admin
7 years ago
Reply to  Anabel Marsh

Oops!

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admin
Author
admin
7 years ago
Reply to  Anabel Marsh

Yes, a whole lot changed later that year. We live in a strange world. Glad you got to see her, though.

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Liz A.
Liz A.
7 years ago

One of the things I want to see if I ever make it to NYC.

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admin
Author
admin
7 years ago
Reply to  Liz A.

I hope you do!

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