The New York City adventure continues: Broadway, Statue of Liberty and a trip to Ellis Island

Seeing the the Statue of Liberty

Of course, we made the journey out to the Statue of Liberty during our stay in New York City. We ended up taking the tour later in the afternoon and was incorrectly told that we would be able to ride around on the boat around the statue, but not go on the island. This was incorrect.

The tours inside the statue were filled, but we could wander around her base and get spectacular photos. We were relieved we didn’t listen to the bad advice and sought our information from another source.

The boat ride to the statue took only about 15 minutes and gave us beautiful views of the statue as well as the New York skyline. Clouds overhead gave us numerous chances to get interesting photos that couldn’t have happened with a clear, blue sky. We felt lucky it wasn’t beastly hot thanks to the clouds as well.

Ellis Island

After strolling around the base of the statue we took the boat to Ellis Island. Since we took the tour later in the day, we were a bit rushed as we tried to see everything in the rooms and read all of the information. We decided against the audio tour that was available. Instead, we decided to read the plaques and be able to discuss what we saw. Audio tours give a lot of information, but don’t allow much talk. We like to talk.

Both my family and my husband’s family came through Ellis Island when coming to the United States. In the lower level of the building, kiosks with a computer screen and keyboard allowed us to type in our last names and see if there are records of our family in the books of Ellis Island. We both were directed by the database to seek further information from the records office. We didn’t investigate further, but felt satisfied our family names were a part of the records. (Editor’s note: You can do a passenger search on the Ellis Island website, too.)

The stories of the people intrigued me the most. I could imagine the hopes and fears of the travelers coming to our country. Everything they left behind and all they were envisioning for the future could be seen on the faces of the people in the photos on display. I wanted the pictures to talk and tell me what they endured to arrive here.

Spending our time at a Broadway show and seeing the historic sights of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island made our time in New York City unlike any other trip to any other city. The more time I spent here, the more comfortable I felt in this city that used to overwhelm me.

More about my New York City trip:

• You can make it in New York City

Eileen is the Chief Mom Connector of Mom Central. When she isn’t dreaming of her next trip to the Big Apple, she is having adventures with her family and writing about them on her own blog calandroclan.com. You can connect with her on twitter as @MomCentralChat.

Eileen Calandro