Our Little Moments...: Lady Liberty!

We got up early after our late night and dropped off Zoe at dance. Gramps wanted to see where Zoe was spending her days so we all went together. The rest of us then hopped back on the subway to head to Battery Park. Unfortunately, one of the main subway lines were down. After a 30 minute wait in the steaming subway station, we headed to a different one to take another line. Gramps was checking out the subway maps.

We finally made it to the South Ferry stop to board our ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We were thankful we had already printed our tickets, and that the security line wasn't too long, but we ended up having to wait quite a while in the burning sunlight while waiting for the boat to be loaded.

You can't tell from these pictures, but it was brutally hot and humid. A few minutes later, we were all dripping with sweat!

We finally pulled away from the dock and got our first views of the skyline. It was neat to see the new Freedom tower.

We were bummed that Ellis Island is still closed due to damage from last years Hurricane Sandy, so we only got to see it from the boat.

Our first view of Lady Liberty...

We made it inside the base, and got to see the original torch.

We just went to the pedestal this time around, but the views are still wonderful.

The flags are all at half-mast in honor of the 19 firefighters that were killed this week in Arizona battling a wildfire.

The boys enjoyed jumping down the stairs on the way back down.

We saw the crowds grow bigger and bigger for the line to get on the ferry back to Manhattan. My mom and I were starting to panic...the line was nearing 2-3 hours. I was worried about not getting back to Zoe in time, and we were worried about standing in the intense heat for that long with no shade.

On the other side of the island, the line to leave on the ferry to New Jersey was almost empty. After a quick conversation with a dock worker, we made the decision to wait 20 minutes for the New Jersey ferry and then get ourselves back to Manhattan from there.

This was a much quicker route, and we were thrilled! We saw the New Jersey skyline and hopped off the boat at Liberty Park in Jersey City.

We walked around the outskirts of the park, saw the beautiful view of the New York skyline, and raced to the yellow Liberty Ferry to head back to Manhattan. Poor Mimi had to run while we asked them to hold the boat!

This was the view from the ferry heading back to Manhattan...

That decision saved us at least 2 hours and we were relieved. Once we docked, I used my phone apps to figure out where we were and where to go!

While waiting for a bus to take us around the south end of the city, the boys found a fun way to entertain themselves.

We made it the the South Street Seaport. This is a fun, harbor side village with lots of shops, restaurants and vendors. It is still being repaired from major hurricane damage, and a lot of places still aren't open, but it is a great place to walk around.