Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty, NYC, USA

January 2014

This was the first thing we did for 2014 (besides get on the subway to get here). We had pre-purchased our tickets, missing out on the tourch tickets, but managing to get the pedestal tickets (more on that later).

The boat trip is not fun on a packed, cold, winters day, but the view does make it worth its while (and how else are you going to get there?).

The statue is a magnificent site, and since we were on one of the first boats of the morning it was easy to get a clear shot, people free.

A lot of people seemed to be in a hurry, maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the rude staff, maybe it was the after effects of NYE, but take some time to enjoy the view over Manhattan, it gives you a different perspective from this angle.

The statue can really be photographed from many angles and would be a photographers dream, if you could get a quiet day.

I mentioned our tickets were for the podium, which required going through another security check point (and was my sticking point for the day seeing they don't allow food, and there website had mentioned they didn't have any available at Ellis Island). But its worth the visit and the few extra dollars to see the original torch.

 

Ellis Island wasn't open in 1995 when I last visited and had only recently re-opened after damage done during Hurricane Sandy.

Not all the exhibits were open, but what was and the building were worth making the stop.

The stories these walls contain, aren't too different from some of those today, leaving everything on a (often) leaky boat in cramped conditions for a better life, only to be prodded, questioned and left in a new world.