Last night was a late night since we saw a show on Broadway and had dinner after 11 pm. Waking up at 7 am to catch the Statue of Liberty Ferry was early for us. It took us about ten minutes to walk from our hotel to the ferry terminal. We went through a security section and were quickly on the ferry. Elsa ordered our ferry tickets over the phone for the Statue of Liberty and for a hard-hat tour of Ellis Island. (If you purchase the tickets online, you could be charged double for the ferry cruises.) The tour was first on our agenda, so we headed to the iconic island, where immigrants many years ago had their first views of America.
The main building contains the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, but the two hour hard-hat tour showed us the Ferry Building along with the hospital building and Contagious Disease Wards. On this tour, we learned that as men, women, and children climbed the stairs of the registration room, doctors were looking for any signs of sickness or troubles. According to the Nation Park Foundation, many were asked over thirty questions including their occupation and where they came from. Only about two percent were denied entry while twenty percent were held on Ellis Island for medical reasons.
You can't take this tour without a guide, as it's on the opposite side of the island and the main building. There were about ten of us in our little group and our tour guide was excellent, answering any questions we may have had. Afterwards, we had lunch at the cafeteria and then got back on the ferry to take us to the Statue of Liberty.
Four years ago when I was in New York, we didn't have time to visit the statue. Zach and I only saw it as we passed by on the Staten Island Ferry. I have to admit, I loved seeing it up close. We climbed quite a bit of stairs to get halfway up, which is interesting and has a lovely view, but visit the museum and then just look up from the ground floor. Quite magnificent! This is what the immigrants, fleeing famine and unemployment, saw as they sailed into New York harbor. After being weeks out on sea, it must have been such a welcoming sight!
For dinner we headed to Lombardi's Pizza, America's first pizzeria. We sat in the oldest part of the restaurant before they added on the new section. I ordered the Margarita pizza, and if you visit New York, I must insist you try it! The girls shared a boring pepperoni pizza. I'm kidding- it still looked amazing! After stuffing our faces with pizza, we found a cannoli place called Caffe Palermo. They had the yummiest cannolis and hot drinks available. Just stop by if you want a little piece of Italy!
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