What we learned in New York - Sat 17th June 2017 - Statue of Liberty Crown, Ellis Island

[Fuellady]

Day 2 is HERE

What we learned in New York – Saturday 17th June 2017

Statue of Liberty Crown, Ellis Island and torrential rain!

Today was Neil’s birthday, and we had lots planned, all of his choosing. We got up at 6am today and got ready to go out. Our first stop would be the Statue of Liberty with Crown Access. This isn’t available on the Explorer Pass (or any pass!) and we had booked about 5 months ago with Statue Cruises, the only provider of this attraction.

We walked up to 42nd Street to the Subway. In hindsight, we should have used the Port Authority which was right across the road from our hotel. I believe it has access to the subway system? Anyway, we were getting the “1” train today from 42nd Street/Times Square right down to South Ferry. This was the first time we had used the Subway and I had huge reservations, but knew it was the most effective way to get to where we needed to be. We had bought our Metrocard yesterday so we just swiped through and seconds later the train arrived and we were straight on. I think it was the 7.26am train we got. It wasn’t very busy and we got a seat right away. A woman sitting next to us asked if we knew what stop she had to get off at for the Staten Island Ferry. I had to think about it for a minute then realised it was right beside where we were going so it would be South Ferry for her as well. I was starting to feel like a Subway pro already! A Mum and 3 teenage girls got on as well and sat across from us.

We hadn’t gone very far when an announcement came over the tannoy stating that anyone getting off at South Ferry had to be in the first 5 cars of the train. Well, we all just kind of looked at each other… not one of us knew which car we were in. We all discussed together (me, Neil, the woman next to us, the Mum & 3 teenagers) that next time the train stopped we would get off, run forward a carriage and get on again. Which we did… 3 times. After the third time, when we got on the carriage a man already there told us that we were in carriage 2 and showed us where the carriage number was. Turns out we must have been in carriage 5 to start with! Never mind, it was such a laugh, and made our first Subway experience so relaxed. I was fine about travelling on the Subway after that.

Soon we reached our stop at South Ferry and Neil and I set off towards Battery Park. It’s such a pretty little walk to Castle Clinton and not far at all. I had looked on the map before we came here and I thought it looked quite far, but it only took about 5 minutes. It was starting to rain as we approached Castle Clinton and to our right there was a queue for the people getting the first boat. Our time slot was 9am, I had deliberately not booked the first time slot as I wanted to allow us plenty of time to find our way there. Getting around was actually turning out to be much easier than I expected. Through the castle entrance way there were 2 booths open, one for buying tickets and another for exchanging vouchers. There was a very small queue at the booth for buying tickets but no queue at all for the one we wanted to exchange our voucher at. The clerk asked for our ID (we showed our driving licences) and issued us with a wristband which we needed to put on there in front of her. She told us to start queuing at 8.30am.

We were really quite early so we sat on a nearly bench watching the world go by. We had a bit of a wander about as well. There was a park area where people could let their dogs off the lead, and lots of runners going by.

The rain was getting heavier now, so we put up our umbrella and huddled under it! We soon started seeing people going through where we had been told to queue even though it wasn’t quite 8.30am yet. We decided to go as well, and got through straight away to join a line for security. The security was set up in a big tent and is airport style. Everything out of pockets, belts off etc. It was very quick though and we were sent out of the other side of the tent to line up for getting on the boat. We were on in about 5 minutes and were soon setting off for Liberty Island.

When we arrived on the island we went straight to get some food as we hadn’t eaten yet today. We quickly found the Crown Cafe and decided to eat here… not our best decision. Although it was still quite early we had been up for ages, and they didn’t really have breakfast choices except porridge so we both had burgers. Neil had the New Yorker burger and I had the chicken burger. Quite frankly, they were both horrible and tasted awful. My chicken burger was slimy! We both had coffee as well (de-caf for me, lattte for Neil), that was the best bit!

We went for a look around next before deciding it was time for us to visit the Crown. We followed the signs round the back of the Statue where there is some work going on. There is a building which has a small shop area at the front and lockers further back. We paid $2 to put our bags in a locker as only cameras, phones, water and medication are allowed to be taken any further. After we had stowed our bags, we went out through the back of the building where there was more security again. It was the same again, airport style security. Then we started the climb…

I thought I would manage the first part to the pedestal no problem, but I really struggled. I’ve been in training for this holiday, going on the Stairmaster machine in the gym 3 times a week for the last 2 months but it did me no good at all! In the end I just took my time and eventually we reached the pedestal. There were good views from here despite the dull weather and we walked around before going any further.

I didn’t think it was so bright but we’re squinting in this picture!

After I had caught my breath, it was time to start our climb to the Crown. At this point there was a staff member who cut off our wristband, explaining that visiting the Crown is a one time deal! There was a small family group in front of us and they were climbing at a nice slow pace which suited me fine. The stairs up to the Crown are a vertical spiral staircase. The easiest way we found to climb was to sort of pull ourselves up using a hand over hand method on the right hand rail.

On the way up there are tiny platforms (presumably to rest on) and the family in front of us stopped on one of these. I was in the front now, and was under pressure to set the pace! Fortunately, the only person behind me was Neil, there wasn’t a queue. I found this climb easier than the climb to the pedestal, maybe because I was sort of pulling myself up with my arms. It doesn’t take that long to do the second climb, maybe about 4 or 5 minutes.

When we arrived at the Crown we were surprised to see that it is really no more than a walkway. When the top of the steps is reached there is a small platform where you can look through the windows and take any photos then the stair goes down the other side. The platform is only about 3 or 4 metres long. There is a staff member at the top and another just as the stairs starts to go down.

We did this more for the experience than the views, which are really no better than from the pedestal. We’re so glad we did it, it felt like it made the day really special. It’s only possible to stay at the top for a short time as there is only room for a few people at a time. It’s quite low as well, Neil bumped his head a couple of times.

So, now we had to get back down, and it felt much steeper going down. The steps are quite small, so we had to kind of go side ways so our feet didn’t slip off of the steps.

On the way down there are several stops (3, I think) for more photo opportunities. We stopped on each level and I was glad of the breaks here as my legs were shaking now!

We collected our things from our locker and headed back to the boat dock so we could go to Ellis Island. We waited about 10 minutes for a boat and there was quite a queue now. Also, the boats coming in to Liberty Island now were much more crowded than ours had been, so it was definitely a good move coming here early.

When we arrived at Ellis Island we had a walk round all of the downstairs exhibits stopping to read or listen to some of them. There were some interesting stories about the immigrants here but we didn’t take the time to study all of the exhibition. I can see how some people would have a huge interest here, but it wasn’t really for us. We decided not to go upstairs to look at the exhibits there. It was raining really heavily now, but even so we went outside (under cover) to wait for the next boat back to Manhattan.

We waited about 10 minutes again for the ferry to come and when it arrived the queue of people in front of us started to move. We were quite far back the queue so we couldn’t see that the boat wasn’t open yet so we just followed. Then we ended standing in the torrential rain for about 5 minutes before we were able to get on the boat. We were totally soaked to the skin. Once on the ferry there were no seats so we just stood there dripping. At this point Neil thought we should still go to the 9/11 Memorial Museum which had been the next thing he wanted to do on his birthday. I had some rain ponchos in my bag from our last trip to Florida which I had just left in there so we put them on while we were still on the ferry as the rain didn’t look like stopping any time soon.

We got off the ferry at Battery Park again and squelched our way back to the Subway. We needed to put money on our Metrocard but the Subway we were at didn’t have a machine, you had to swipe the Metrocard right at the door. So we had to walk across the road to a the Whitehall Subway to top up our card. It was so busy down there, I think a lot of people had cancelled their plans due to the torrential rain and were all wanting to get the Subway. We queued at a machine and got chatting to the young couple in front of us who were just getting a Metrocard for the first time. Well, they pressed something wrong on the machine and it broke, it was stuck on asking if they wanted a receipt and wouldn’t do anything else. So we had to join the line for the next machine. We were so uncomfortable in our wet clothes and soggy shoes that we now decided that we would just get the Subway from there back up to 42nd Street and go back to the hotel to change and decide what to do next.

It was still raining heavily by the time we made it back to the hotel, so we turned the aircon system to heating and hung our wet clothes on hangers above it so that they could dry. We chilled out in our room for a while and I gave my Mum a call. We stayed in for a couple of hours and by then the rain had started to ease. We went out for a wander and to find somewhere to eat. We walked up 42nd Street, along 7th Avenue then through Times Square. Maybe we weren’t fully hungry yet, but we just couldn’t decide what we wanted to eat. We were standing on the sidewalk discussing this, waiting for the traffic lights to change so we could cross and a local guy overheard us. He asked if we had any questions and we told him we couldn’t decide what kind of food we wanted. He told us to go down onto 9th Avenue which is known as Restaurant Row because there are loads of eateries there and it should be a bit cheaper than Times Square. We did that, and walked along one side of 9th Avenue then crossed the street and walked back the other side. We still couldn’t decide and we were soon back on 40th Street again. At the bottom of our block there is a pizza take out place called 2 Bros Pizza. We popped in by there and picked up 2 slices of pizza each along with a Sprite for me and Fanta Grape for Neil. I had a slice of Hawaiian pizza and a slice of Margherita, Neil had 2 slices of Sausage pizza, $11.95. We took the pizza back to our hotel room and enjoyed sitting eating our pizza and chatting about our day so far and how to fit the things we had missed back into our plan.

Just after 5pm, we went down to the hotel bar for a drink. The Distrikt has a nice little bar area and when we went in they were holding a sushi making class. The class was nearing it’s end and the sushi makers had soon left. Neil had a local beer which he really enjoyed and I had a Strawberry Fields cocktail.

While Neil was at the bar getting us a second drink, a couple came into the bar who we had spoken to briefly in the lift earlier today. Neil got chatting again to the man at the bar and asked him and his wife if they would like to sit with us. They agreed and we spent a lovely couple of hours chatting with them. They were from Alberta, Canada and were in New York celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. They eventually had to leave as they had tickets for a show, but it was nice for us to have some company. We have kept in touch with each other since we came home. We stayed in the bar quite a while that evening, it’s a really lovely relaxing place to sit and chat and Tyler the barman makes an excellent Mojito!

Eventually we decided that we were hungry again, and left the bar about 8pm in search of food. Neil had been reading restaurant reviews before we came here and had been going on about an Irish bar called Scallywags. This was where he wanted to go tonight and luckily it was just around the corner on 9th Avenue. It only took us about 5 minutes to walk from the Distrikt to Scallywags. It was quiet in there, not a lot of people eating. The reviews were really good though, so we were happy to give it a try.

From where I was sitting there were 5 pictures on the wall in front of me and none of them except one was straight. When the (Irish) waiter came over to take our order we got talking to him and he was really friendly. So much so that I told him that the pictures were squint. He said “what do you mean, squint, do you mean they’re off?” Is squint not a word in Ireland? Anyway, he agreed that I was right and said when he got a minute he would come back and we would straighten up the pictures! He took our order then – we ordered Mozzarella sticks to share for starters, then Neil was having Chicken Fajitas and I ordered Meatloaf with mash and broccoli.

True to his word, Chris the waiter came back while our food was being made and we straightened up the pictures. He moved them and I told him when they were right! He agreed that now it looked better and said he would keep an eye on them in case they went off again!

Our food came and it was so good. This was by far the best meal we had eaten in New York to date. Although there weren’t a lot of people in at the moment, we were assured it would get really busy later as they have live music playing later in the evenings. It would have been good to go back another time a bit later but we didn’t get a chance this trip. One to remember for next time though.

When Chris came back to clear our plates away and give us the bill, he stayed around chatting for ages about how he had ended up in New York. We had a lovely conversation with him and the thing we liked about this place is that the bill didn’t have any suggested tip on it. He didn’t charge us for my soft drink either. The check came to $59.90, we left $75, it was well worth it. Highly recommended. Even though it was still fairly early, about 9.40pm, we were tired now after our early start so we headed back round the corner to our hotel.

Even though we hadn’t managed to fit in the 9/11Museum or walk the Brooklyn Bridge which had been the other things on our agenda today, Neil had still enjoyed his birthday.

What we learned today: The Subway is actually really easy to use, and not scary!; New Yorkers are friendly and helpful; When it rains here, it really rains!

Day 4 is HERE

[Mortimer Mouse]

A pity about the weather today.
I've never heard the word 'squint' being used like that either, and I'm English!

[Jane71]

Im definitely putting Scallywags on our list. . Shocked the weather was so bad but at least you'd had a good day.

[Fuellady]

Originally Posted by Mortimer Mouse

A pity about the weather today.
I've never heard the word 'squint' being used like that either, and I'm English!

See more...

Haha, really? It must be a Scottish thing then. The rain really put paid to our plans today, luckily it was the start of our holiday and we had plenty of time to rearrange our plans.

Originally Posted by Jane71

Im definitely putting Scallywags on our list. . Shocked the weather was so bad but at least you'd had a good day.

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You won't regret eating at Scallywags, it was so good. It rains a lot here in Scotland, but the rain in NYC was like having a bucket of water tipped over you!

[Goldia]

I've written down your tips about the subway to SoL... front 5 cars ... it sounds like a fun initiation though. Thanks again for the tips.

[Fuellady]

Originally Posted by Goldia

I've written down your tips about the subway to SoL... front 5 cars ... it sounds like a fun initiation though. Thanks again for the tips.

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Having to run between the cars really made riding the subway fun instead of scary. I was very tense about it all before that, but didn't worry about using the Subway again.

[i love jack]

Shame it was a soggy day, you make the subway sound very easy

[GKnH]

I'm really enjoying your trip report - I've made lots of notes.

I've never heard of 'squint' before - my mum who was Irish would say something was skewiff (not sure if I spelt that correctly )

Can you tell me how long the SOL / Ellis Island part of your day took? I'm trying to understand what else we are likely to be able to fit in that day. We are going over Christmas so we won't have as many hours of daylight to play with

[Fuellady]

Originally Posted by i love jack

Shame it was a soggy day, you make the subway sound very easy

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I was terrified of using the subway before we went. I read every subway guide I could find online and still felt clueless about it. Honestly though, I don't know what I was worried about. Download the MTA app and you're sorted. If I can do it anyone can!

Originally Posted by GKnH

I'm really enjoying your trip report - I've made lots of notes.

I've never heard of 'squint' before - my mum who was Irish would say something was skewiff (not sure if I spelt that correctly )

Can you tell me how long the SOL / Ellis Island part of your day took? I'm trying to understand what else we are likely to be able to fit in that day. We are going over Christmas so we won't have as many hours of daylight to play with

See more...

Thank you for reading. We say skewiff here as well!

We got the 7.25 subway so it was an early start. We wasted a lot of time hanging about waiting for our SOL time slot as we were there so early. We spent about 2 - 2 1/2 hours on Liberty Island, that included eating, climbing to the Crown and taking our time to get lots of photos. We waited about 10 minutes for the ferry to Ellis Island which takes about 5-10 minutes then we only spent about an hour on Ellis Island. I think we were back in Manhattan about 1.30pm. If we hadn't been rained off we were going to the 9/11 Memorial Museum after that then hoping to walk the Brooklyn Bridge.

Realistically, we spent a lot of time at the 9/11 Museum so I think it would have been late afternoon before we reached the Brooklyn Bridge which would have been fine in summer.

SOL/Ellis Island could be done quicker than we did it and getting the earlier time slot would help as well. We really felt like we took our time there. Hope this helps.

[disney owl]

a lovely birthday for your husband