Lady Liberty

First, I must say that last night's dinner was spectacular. The restaurant was great, the service was great, the food was great, and the waterfront table with sunset views were great. A perfect ending to a perfect day. Highly recommend the Blue Restaurant in Snug Harbor if you are ever in Staten Island for a nice dinner.

Woke up this morning to an absolutely gorgeous day outside.  It was 8ish when we left the house. We decided to try and go to Liberty State Park in NJ and see what happens. Of course there was a detour to the bridge we needed to get to so we drove in circles for a bit before finding the right on ramp.

If you ever decide to visit Ellis and Liberty Islands, I recommend doing it the way we did. There is absolutely nobody at the NJ end, especially first thing in the morning - plus the islands are much closer to Jersey. We parked in the free parking lot (as opposed to the $7 lot which is closer to the ticket office) and walked down to buy our tix. Fifteen minutes later we were on our way to Ellis Island. The boat takes you to Ellis first and then picks up every 30 minutes and goes over to Liberty Island then returns to the mainland from there. 

Actually being on Ellis Island was awesome. If you have ancestors that have come through there, it is a powerful feeling standing in the Great Hall. We used our audio tour (which is included in the price) and walked through all the exhibits.  However, I have to admit, I was more interested in being in the building than all the exhibition.

Next we traveled on to Lady Liberty.  Things got a bit more crowded since the boats from NYC were unloading here. We did have a pass to go into the pedestal, but oh so many people and then there was Homeland Security to deal with.  Instead, we decided to walk around Her Majesty, take some photos and head on back. Wanted to get on the road home before too late. Caught the noon ferry back to Jersey and we were practically the only ones on board compared to the throngs of folks going back to NYC.  Again I say, good move going to Jersey.

Ate lunch at the Liberty Cafe outside of the park and then hit the road. We stayed on the Jersey side - no traffic at all - and crossed over to NY at Tarrytown - all the way up the coast to home.  A few traffic snags but nothing like NYC. 

5:30pm opened the door to home looked at the water and aahhh. Time to head over to Fronteria Grille for Cinco de Mayo. 

Next time... Back in Amsterdam