New York - February 2006 - Part 3

When we woke up the next morning, the weather had completely changed. Gone were the storms clouds; it was a bright and sunny day outside. It was still cold, though. This was the new view from the hotel room:


This was our last day in New York, and we only had a few hours before we would need to be at the airport. But we just barely had time to try to squeeze in a visit to the Statue of Liberty. So we quickly walked over to Battery Park, and were amazingly some of the first people to join in the queue.


The plan was to try to get there early to beat the crowds, leaving plenty of time to sight-see at the Statue. That would have worked, except for the hours spent waiting in line to pass through security. We waited for maybe two hours, slowing inching our way forward. Finally we reached some x-ray machines, where everyone had to remove their coats, hats, gloves, scarves and any other feeble attempt to stay warm in the 25 degree weather. I placed several rolls of film on the tray and watched them get zapped, and hoped they would survive...

Then we got into another line for another security screening. After a bit more waiting, it came time to stand on some sort of platform that shot a jet of air up your clothes (an interesting experience). After all that, it was time to finally get onto the ferry that would take us to Liberty Island. A view of the skyline from the boat:

The view of the city from there was awesome...

And of the approaching Statue of Liberty:


And then a shot combining the two:


The boat reached the island, but we were way behind. Our flight was leaving in just a few hours, and we would hardly have any time to see the Statue. So we rushed towards the entrance only to find yet another security line.

After another long wait, we were cleared and able to go into the Statue itself. We didn't stop to inspect any of the exhibits at the museum, and reached the elevators that take you up to the top of the pedestal. At that time, the crown of the Statue was closed to visitors, and this was as high as you could go. But they did let you see the spiral staircase that curls up to the top.

I guess this was taken while looking up Lady Liberty's skirt.

The guide at the top noted that we got up there pretty fast, and said in a disapproving tone that we must have ran through the museum. Sorry buddy, we had a plane to catch! But this is the view of the city from the pedestal of the Statue. It was another great view.




And then the view looking up:


And then we headed back down to ground level and went to have a quick look around. Here's another view of the Statue (sorry there are so many).


Being there did make me want to watch "Ghostbusters 2" again.


One good thing about being on the first boat there was the we were able to see it before the snow got trampled...


And one last picture of the Statue of Liberty. This seagull was flying low above us, and I tried to get a quick shot of it.


The ferry then went over and visited Ellis Island. We stayed on the boat, since we had no time to tour the museum. We had already missed the check-out time at the hotel.




I wanted to use up the roll of film I had, so I stood out on the boat deck and got some more pictures of the skyline.

Those new buildings on the right sure do stick out against the neater older skyscrapers...



And that was it - we checked out of the hotel and got to the airport about 45 minutes before the plane left. I ended up shooting 20 rolls of film, and was relieved to see that each one survived the wrath of the airport x-rays. But the cost of developing 20 rolls of film, and the constant worry about their surviving the trip, led me to buy a digital camera a few months later.

It was a good trip, albeit a short one. We didn't manage to see a lot of the sights up there - no Central Park or fancy museums. We didn't even manage to buy a knock-off rolex!