Baseball Adventure - NYC with the family - Day 33 (6/23)

After two days of running ourselves ragged around NYC, we decided to do only one thing today - take a boat to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  We headed out around 9:00 am and went to Liberty State Park in New Jersey to catch the boat.  The weather was crappy - lots of fog that made seeing above 200 feet in the air very difficult, and a constant drizzle of rain.  That didn't dampen our spirits though.

Michael and Andie playing around waiting for the boat.

When we got on the boat, we couldn't see Ellis Island or the Statue at all.  Normally on a semi-clear day, you can easily see them.  The islands are no more than a few city blocks off the shore of New Jersey.  But as we took off and got closer, they came into view and the views were awesome.

First stop - Ellis Island.  I was really looking forward to this.  To think this place was the launching point for over 12 million immigrants, mostly from Europe, was amazing.  We had a great tour guide who gave us a tour of the registry building and the medical facilities.  The most interesting stat I heard was that of the 12.2 million people to enter the country through Ellis Island, only 2% of them decided to return to their home countries after they arrived.

Although everyone wanted to come here, not everyone here wanted them.  When you hear about the immigrants' plight to the US, it's usually sugar coated and told in a way that the US welcomed them all.  Definitely not true.  The majority of the country wanted nothing to do with the waves of newcomers for fear of taking American jobs away, raising crime rates, and causing the decay of America.  Sound familiar?  The truth is that the immigrants that came to this country were some of the most hard-working and innovative people that raised the standard of living of the country enormously according to our tour guide.  I'm guessing the same is true today.

A photo from the Ellis Island museum.  Not everyone was happy to see the newcomers.

I saw this and thought this was a great story.  And it was likely very true.

Anyway, we then sailed over to the Statue of Liberty.  What an incredible sight to be so close to it.  The kids loved it too.  I tried to imagine myself being an immigrant on one of those ships back then and what it must have been like to leave my country, be stuck in the steerage section of the ship for up to four weeks, and then come into the harbor in New York and see that statue from a distance.  I can only think of how excited and scared I would have been.  The kids just thought the statue was big.  It was great watching their faces.  Both of them had seen it in their history books from school, but to watch them finally see it up close was a great thing.

Anyway, we spent the rest of the evening back at our hotel and enjoyed a peaceful evening of watching movies.  Tomorrow (Friday), we are heading to Manhattan for some general sightseeing and then we will cap the evening off as a family by taking the 4 train up to the Bronx to see the Yankees take on the Rockies in new Yankee Stadium.  Looking forward to it.