"Bone" Voyage: NYC day two

Monday, October 24th-After breakfast we left for our 10:00 tour of Statue of Liberty. However, one of the trains had shut down, everyone was trying to get to work and trains were delayed. We met really nice New Yorkers while waiting. Once enroute, we found ourselves jammed as sardines but enjoyed meeting an English family. This week Europeans are on holiday so we met many Europeans which was kind of fun. Everything though was more crowded than we had anticipated since it was a weekday off season. After waiting in long lines we were on the ferry to Liberty Island. It was a beautiful warm day, and we rode out standing next to a French family which we thought was pretty apprepo since France had given her to us. After listening in on a Ranger tour, Mark and I were moved. We learned:
l. France gave her to us to encourage us after the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination when moral was down, a symbol for us to keep going and a symbol to themselves to stand strong as we had againt tyranny and a symbol for the world that it is possible to have freedom.
2. She is stepping out of chains and to us her stepping forward seems a symbol of confidence and resolve, peaceful strength. She is holding a tablet, the Declaration of Independence with 1776 written in Roman numerals.Very moving that she is looking over the Harbor to the Freedom Tower that will be 1776 feet and the tallest building in the US. They are building 1-4 floors a week. A testament to what she and the American people stand for. We felt proud and humbled by our history.
3. 7 points on her crown stand for 7 continents and 7 seas.
4. 12 million people visit her a year.
5. She was built in France, taken a part to send here and rebuilt here. It was a monumental feat financially to get her base built here.

After finishing the Jr. Ranger booklet here, we went over to Ellis Island. The movie was very informative and moving about what people had to endure before they left, on the journey here and what was life after arriving. They gave us contact info on how we can look up when our ancestors arrived which we hope to do over the holidays.

We wished we could have gotten a tour of Ground Zero Memorial but we were told it took weeks to get a ticket but our English friends had just gotten them a day before.

I had always wanted to take a carriage ride in Central Park and since it was such a beautiful day, I thought it would be a great way to see the park. However, it turned out that the rides only went for 20 minutes and only went about a 1/3 of the park. It was kind of a rip-off and disappointing. I'm sure we'll laugh about it someday. After our brief, ploddy ride, we ended up walking in the park which there was some grumbling and complaining about. Not saying who.

We wanted to get to the Top of the Rock for sunset but when we got there, the next tour wasn't avail until 8:00 p.m.. Didn't think it would be sold out on a Monday. We went and got supper at Chipotles and picked up our bags and went to the Top of the Rock. Loved seeing the city lights but wished we could have seen it so the kids could have seen the water too.

Met a native New Yorker on train ride home who lost lots of friends in 911. He's a volunteer fireman and had lots of memories and stories to share.

Dropped in bed exhausted at 11:30 p.m.