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Monday, August 26, 2013

I'm Back

Hi Everyone,

I had a really great trip to New York City!  I flew up on Friday evening.  Apparently, the only way to get to JFK airport from Richmond is through Charlottesville, NC?  I must say that Charlottesville's airport is very nice, though.

As we were landing, I glimpsed the Empire State Building out of the window of the plane. 

On Saturday, we got up early and took the subway into Manhattan.  I had booked us on a one-day tour of the city and I was sure glad !  We saw all the highlights, did a lot of walking, and went on two boats.  It was a long day.

The first thing that I did after I bought the plane ticket was to go online for Statue of Liberty tickets.  I booked them for Sunday.  In case you don't know, you can visit Liberty Island from either Battery Park (Manhattan) or Liberty State Park (New Jersey).  Either location means a ferry ride to Liberty Island.  Visiting the statue is free, however, the ferry costs $17 per person.  There are three different tickets:  Crown, Pedestal, or Island.  The Crown tickets (enabling one to go all the way up into the crown) were booked solid for months.  There were only Pedestal tickets available from New Jersey.  They let you climb up into the pedestal.  The Island tickets just let you get to the island and then you can walk around, but not go into the statue.  I wanted Crown tickets, but had to content myself with the Pedestal ones, instead, but that meant that we had to drive over to New Jersey, but it wasn't too bad.  We had Sunday morning tickets, so the traffic was light.  (It just cost us an additional $25 in tolls!)  If you ever go, the biggest tip I can give is to buy your tickets in advance, online.  The lines to buy tickets were really long!
 



Isn't she gorgeous!  I had the reaction that most people have when they first see her--that she is much smaller than they expect.  I think it has to do more with the fact that she is such a huge American symbol--so we expect her to be bigger than she is.  I also hoped for a pretty blue sky, however, this gray sky helped the torch show up nice and bright.

Liberty Island just reopened on the 4th of July since the visit from hurricane Sandy last fall.  Ellis Island is still closed.  You have to go through security to get onto the ferry, and then once more to go into the statue.

I'll be back tomorrow with more from the trip.  From the ferry, we had a good view of the Verrazano Bridge.  This will figure into tomorrow's post. 




For now, enjoy one more photo of Liberty Enlightening the World.



Have a great day!
JoAnne

14 comments:

  1. Glad you had a great time. That is a trip that I really want to make someday!

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  2. Well you should see the liberty statue that we kept here in Paris it's really small!!!!!!!

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  3. What a beautiful sight. Glad you and hubby had a good time and got to take in some of the city.

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  4. So glad you got to meet Ms Liberty up close and personal... somehow, you don't ever forget...

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  5. Hubby & I got to visit her three years ago. Luckily, my BIL was or tour guide and he's in a wheelchair so we were whisked to the very front of the line - saved us a LOT of waiting time as you can imagine.

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  6. Welcome back! You were missed!

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  7. I'm glad you had a good time. We finally had a weekend of decent summer weather! I live in NJ and have been to the Statue of Liberty but it has been a long time. I was recently at an event at Maritime Parc, the banquet catering facility in Liberty State Park, and wow, what a view from the balcony!

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  8. I'd love to go there someday, especially to see the Statue of Liberty and visit Ellis Island.

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  9. It looks and sounds like you had an amazing time. I would love a trip to the States but I fear it won't be for a long while yet. But then there is the question of which area to explore. Good to see you back. xxxx

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  10. I am not a "big city" girl (even having been born/raised for some of my life in Chicago) but I have to admit that seeing things like these landmarks are amazing and humbling. You realize how blessed we are to live in this great country and are so thankful to those who have given us those freedoms. Glad you're home safe! Linda

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  11. I'm glad you enjoyed NY its a beautiful city. I love Mahattan in the summer I hope you had a chance to visit City Quilters (quilt shop) when I can get into Mahattan I try to stop their. Glad you enjoyed yourself!!

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  12. Inspiring pictures JoAnne! If I ever get to NYC, Lady Liberty would be my absolute first stop... thanks for the tips on the tickets! So happy you had a great time!

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  13. The closest I have been was an aerial view of Lady Liberty. I don't ever see her without thinking about all the people who came through Ellis Island and the stories they must have. So sorry to hear that your hubby was so busy while you were there. That sure throws a wrench in the plans, doesn't it?

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  14. I've heard that every Australian who has seen her can't get over how big she is! Isn't that funny. It's probably because we don't have huge statues and monuments so much down here. Our sky scrapers aren't even tall compared to yours!

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