Andy and I were able to take a trip to New York City from Feb. 20-26th. I should first acknowledge Aunt Bethany and Grandma K for making the trip possible by keeping the kids for us, and Scott and Janna and Quincy and Ruth for giving us the push in that direction!
We flew out of Gulfport, MS around 6 am on Friday the 20th of Feb. We made good time and got to New York around 1 pm. We had to wait for a while for our bags since the plane from Charlotte, NC was so full they checked our bags at the gate. Once we got our bags Andy put on a pair of his thermals and we headed out to find the M60 Bus to take us to Manhattan. Once we got off the bus to connect with the subway we decided to grab a quick bite. Subway sandwiches always hit the spot!
Oh that was good!
Then we hopped on the subway and road it to Times Square.
As we got off the subway we realized we were in the heart of Times Square.
The Hershey store looks so inviting!
It is amazing to see how big the screens really are at Times Square. They cover several blocks of buildings on both sides of the street!
We also spotted several of our favorite characters hanging out at Times Square.
They would pose for pictures, but wanted a "tip" for posing, so I snapped pictures from across the street! :)
These Statues of Liberty had to be cold! They were up on stilts and the wind was really whipping through the streets between the tall buildings.
George M. Cohan was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and producer. He publish more than 300 songs during his life including "Your a Grand Old Flag." Before WWI he was known as "the man who owned Broadway." This statue commemorates his contributions to American musical theatre.
Andy checking his text messages and FREEZING!
Our hotel.
It is half a block from Times Square. It was the perfect location to so many things.
(Scott, you did a great job picking the hotel!)
After checking into our hotel we met up with Ruth and Quincy and headed out to find scarves! They were a life saver on this trip. We also saw Olaf. ;)
We met Scott and Janna at the hotel around 5 pm and headed out to dinner before catching WICKED on Broadway. It was nice since we stayed at the same hotel as Scott and Janna and Quincy and Ruth. We ate at a yummy Italian restaurant.
Janna and I waiting for the show to start.
Scott and Janna got us the tickets and they did a fabulous job picking the location! The show was amazing!!
Andy and I before the show.
On Saturday (Feb. 21) morning Andy and I went up to Scott and Janna's room to say good bye to them and wish Scott a happy birthday! They were flying home that day, so they weren't able to come with us to see the Statue of Liberty. It was a lot of fun seeing them for the short time we did.
Quincy, Andy and Ruth waiting for the train that would take us to Battery Park.
Poor Quincy had a massive headache!
Andy
Quincy in his orange jacket.
As first we harassed him about his bright orange jacket, but it came in really handy. It was super easy to find him in the crowd.
As we got to Battery Park we notice these bee hives. They are painted to look like apartment buildings and houses.
Our first look at Lady Liberty from Battery Park.
Heading through the park to find the ticket office.
The ticket office is inside this old fort. It is one of two forts that guarded against the British. They were positioned across from each other, but never saw any action because they British never tried to invade this area.
We grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast before hopping on the ferry to Liberty Island.
As we headed out towards the Statue of Liberty we passed large hunks of ice floating in the water.
I got several shots of Lady Liberty from different angles as we got closer.
This is Ellis Island. We stopped there after we toured the Statue of Liberty.
Looking back towards town down Manhattan.
Lots of ice!
Quincy and Ruth on the ferry trying to stay warm.
More shots of Lady Liberty.
The island she is on isn't very big. This is the location of the second fort. The star shaped building the pedestal sits on is the original fort.
Lady Liberty isn't as big as I thought she was, but she is big.
Ruth and Quincy on the east side of Liberty Island with down town Manhattan in the back ground.
Andy and Karrie
There was still a lot of snow and ice on the ground from previous storms.
Joseph Pulitzer
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi
We tried to get tickets to the crown, but they were sold out through April. The next best thing was tickets to the pedestal. This is the view of Lady Liberty from the pedestal.
Andy with Manhattan and Ellis Island in the background from the pedestal.
Me (Karrie) with the grounds and Manhattan in the back.
This is a look at the stairs leading up to the crown. The stairs are a double helix style so that they can have traffic going up and down at the same time. The stairs are steep!
This is the second of the three torches the Statue of Liberty has held. This one started corroding and had to be replaced in the 80's. There is a museum in the pedal stool and I read an interesting story about the first torch. Just before the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in the 1800's a flock of birds was attracted to the light and blinded. They flew into the torch and hundreds died! They even had pictures of the poor birds.
Actual size of Lady Liberty's face.
They had a lot of interesting facts in the museum. I took pictures of the information and the pictures that correspond with the information.
Actual size of her foot.
Replica or the model and scale model used to make the Statue of Liberty.
I didn't realize how involved Gustave Eiffel was in the construction and stabilizing of the Statue of Liberty. His design to anchor the statue has allowed the structure to remain standing for so long.
A look at the inside.
This display gives a good look at the inside of the pedestal and statue.
The circular stairs runs up through the center of the structure.
Fun Facts about the pedestal.
Replica of the final pedestal design.
These next pictures are different ways they have used the Statue of Liberty to rally the American people over the year and different souvenir designs.
This is a look at Liberty Island.
This is the ferry we road on. After leaving Liberty Island we headed to Ellis Island.
Ruth and Quincy with Lady Liberty
Dad and Mom
(Andy and Karrie)
A last look at Lady Liberty before boarding the ferry.
The buildings of Ellis Island had some amazing architectural work. A lot of buildings in New York are works of art themselves. People just don't build buildings like that anymore.
I love the details they put on the building.
It was humbling to see the displays or the immigrants that came to America looking for a better life. I can't imagine the pure joy mixed with fear they must have felt to finally arrived.
This was one story about immigrants that I am familiar with.
New York has been greatly changed by the skills and hard work of the many immigrants that entered the country through Ellis Island.
After looking through the displays we headed upstairs to the registry room.
The registry room is every impressive!
The hospital buildings are still standing, but they are not open to the public.
A look at the hospital buildings outside.
This bird was obviously use to all the visitors. He wasn't afraid of getting near us.
Quincy, Ruth and Andy waiting for the ferry to take us back to Manhattan.
As we got on the ferry it started to snow large fluffy snow flakes. It only took about 5-10 minutes for the visibility to be effected by the snow.
Looking back towards Liberty Island through the falling snow.
This is the Stanton Island Ferry.
Ellis Island as we left.
A couple minutes later you can see how much snow was falling.
Looking at down town Manhattan.
The snow seemed to swallow the buildings.
We headed back to our hotel to get ready to go to the Manhattan Temple.
It was a great day and we were grateful the snow held off until after we visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
