"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"

Over the weekend, Bryan and I took a trip to New York with Ryan, Alicia, and Jude. I don't yet have access to the pictures from the first day, but I have some from the second! On the second day, we took a ferry from Liberty State Park NJ over to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I feel like a good percentage of people have visited one or both of these historical attractions whether it was with school or family - but I never have. It was very surreal. I would recommend anyone that hasn't been to go and if you went as a child, possibly even go again now that you might be able to appreciate it more.

The view of New York City from Liberty State Park

Our first stop on the ferry was Ellis Island. Due to the ferry schedule, we were unable to get through the entire museum, but we made it through the majority of the exhibits. It was all very interesting. Bryan said he went as a child but didn't remember much from it - completely understandable. It wasn't exactly the type of museum that would easily keep a child's attention.

This exhibit compared the ratio of male and female immigrants over the years. I was amused that the females were orange and the males were green!


The next and final stop on the ferry was the Statue of Liberty. This ended up being my favorite part of the entire trip. It was very surreal to see something close up that you've heard so much about and seen so much your entire life. It was definitely something that made you say, "Why did I wait so long to do this?" Once again, we were at the mercy of the ferry and we had to rush through the museum part of the monument, but walking the 150+ steps to the foot of the statue took the cake. It was an amazing trip and I plan to go back - most definitely.

2010 is going to be a great year...