Lovely, clear, sunny day. Delightful breeze. Perfect temperature. We took the subway to the World Trade Center. Walked two blocks to the Hudson River and strolled along the Esplanade. This entire area is new. It's made of fill from the excavation for the World Trade Center a few years ago. They've made a lovely park for several blocks along the river. There are places that are still under development, but we were able to follow the river almost all the way to the Battery.
The Battery is the extreme southern tip of Manhattan Island. A fort was built here in 1812. Actually, the fort was way out in the water when it was built, but excavation fill soon made it part of the land. When it was no longer needed as a fort, it became a lavish entertainment center and later an immigrant processing station until 1890, when it was superseded by Ellis Island. When Roy and I were children, the circular brick building was being used as an aquarium. We both remember going there. My Great Uncle Jim sometimes took me to the aquarium when I was 4 or 5 years old. I still remember being fascinated by the colorful fish. He always bought me a nickel bag of peanuts and gave me a penny for the organ-grinder's monkey. I loved watching the monkey and feeling his little hand snatch the penny out of my hand. Then he'd tip his hat to say thank you. It's a shame there are no more organ grinders and their monkeys around to entertain the children.
The fish have long since been moved to new quarters, but the round, roofless, circular structure still stands as an historical monument. Now it houses an exhibit, a bookstore, and the ticket booth for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. To our surprise, the ticket was only $5 for both places. The ferry takes you first to the Statue of Liberty, where you can stay as long as you like. Then another ferry takes you to Ellis Island, and when you're through there, a third ferry takes you back to the Battery. There is no additional charge; $5 does it all!
There were hundreds and hundreds of people standing in line for the eleven o'clock ferry. We didn't think we had a chance of getting on, but we not only got on, we got good seats and hundreds more got on after us!
The Statue of Liberty was somewhat disappointing, because there was a three-hour wait to get inside, and we didn't want to wait that long, so we just wandered around outside. I don't remember a wait like that twelve years ago, when Barbra and I where there; it seems to me we just went in without any wait.
Roy and I ate lunch outdoors, overlooking New York Harbor and Verrazano Narrows. This time when he cut a Milky Way in half, he gave me an entire half! We walked back to check the line again, but it was just as long, so we took the ferry to Ellis Island.
I was amazed at the changes since the last time I was there. They have done an excellent job of restoring it. Before, it was all dirty and rundown and falling apart. The building is really nice now and has lots of exhibits. We spent the entire afternoon looking at them. Also saw an interesting movie on the early days of Ellis Island, when so many millions from Europe were processed there on their way to a new life in the United States.
We were on the very last boat to leave the island. Bought a few groceries on the way back and reached the marina around eight. Roy made a few more unsuccessful attempts to phone his son Steve. We can't go farther north until we get our other carton of charts.
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