Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Financial District

 Wow, what a difference a day makes. They had been forecasting all the rain coming up the Atlantic coast, and they weren't just whistling Dixie. It was already raining, and about 70 degrees when we set out this morning at 8:00 to take the subway to Battery Park where the Circle Line ships leave for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You can tell from the difference in the pictures taken last night and this morning, things really changed. It was not only raining some, but very windy.

The ride out to the Statue of Liberty did not take long and was much smoother than we thought it would be given the size of the waves and white caps on the water. After very tight security we went through the museum in the base and then up to an observatory level just under the statue. From there you could look up into the statue to see the spiral staircase that goes up to the head. It is open, but it is a long hard climb which none of us did. When we walked around the observation level, it was all we could do to stand up, the wind was blowing so hard. Back down on the ground level, I had squatted to take a picture of our friends and the statue (wide angle lens) when a wave broke over the wall and soaked my backsides. I even had to laugh at that.

The next stop was at Ellis Island. Fran had family who came into the country at Ellis, but Paul's came into Philadelphia. I'm not sure where mine came in, but I'm sure someone in my family knows. In any event, it was very interesting to see the area, and we took a short tour. After a lunch at the cafeteria, we looked through the museum.

By the time we arrived back at Battery Park the rain had quit and it was just windy, in the 70s, and humid. We walked up to Wall Street and down it to see the NY Stock Exchange building. As we entered Wall Street there were a number of police standing around a backpack left in the middle of the street. Eventually they taped off the area and as we walked back around the area there were more police vehicles arriving and a sign indicating they were searching all commercial vehicles in that ares. So far nothing in the news about it.

We then walked down to the Ground Zero area and finally found a place to overlook the work being done to rebuild. It was in the World Financial Center, I think. Anyway, the gorgeous arched windows looking out the the Hudson River made for my most "artsy" picture of the day.

By the time we caught the subway back to the hotel it was after 4:30. We were all exhausted and pretty grungy. After a shower we met down stairs for "Happy Hour" which had sufficient appetizers for us to make it "supper" and then call it a night. The heavy rains are supposed to hit tonight and last into the morning, so we plan to go to the UN for an inside tour in the morning, since it was closed last time we went by. I think Grand Central Park area is also on the schedule. Ira and Fran have really planned a well great schedule for us and we are working in as many places as we can.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul