August 16, 2008

August 16, 2008

From southern New York, we wake early yet again and make our way into New Jersey stopping at Liberty State Park on the Hudson. This is the less crowded of the two ports where you can take a ferry to Ellis and Liberty Islands. The ferry’s first stop is Ellis Island, where the nation’s largest Immigration center was located. On its busiest day, it would process over 11,000 aliens. Ellis Island consists of 33 buildings but only the main receiving hall has been restored. Inside is a Museum devoted to immigration. The exhibits are extensive and very well done. We breeze thru it but would have liked to spend more time. Unfortunately, we want to see Liberty Island too and waiting for and taking the ferry wastes a lot of time. Apparently needlessly so. To my surprise, there is a small bridge spanning the 200 yards from the Jersey shore for employees. Tourists, however, are required to take the ferry. A ranger suggests government bureaucracy is preventing public use, but I suspect the losing of millions of dollars of ferry fees is the real culprit.

Seeing the large crowd now waiting to board the ferry, we end our visit at Ellis and join the line for our next stop, Liberty Island. Liberty Island was another one of the War of 1812 forts guarding New York harbor. The star-shaped fort is still there, with the addition of a monumental green copper statue of a woman atop of it. Affectionately known as the Statue of Liberty, she is a sight to behold. She is very beautiful and full of meaning for our country. She symbolizes everything good about us. Every American should see her up close at least once. No doubt she brought a tear to the eye of every immigrant who passed by on their way to Ellis Island. We walk around Liberty’s fortress base taking lots of pictures. Unfortunately that is as close as we get. The hollow statue has been closed to visitors since 9-11. The pedestal and museum is still open but with limited access. To get inside, you have to book a specific time, days or weeks before. In retrospect I was lucky to have climbed inside her on my first visit to New York in 1980.

From Liberty Island, we board the ferry back to the Jersey shore and drive west to an RV park in Flanders, NJ. Along the way we stop at the Edison National Historic Site in East Orange, NJ. Edison’s lab is closed for renovation but his home is open. We are too late for a tour so we settle for a brief walk around the exterior of this large Victorian brick house.