Thursday in New York City- 2010/11 World Tour

We wanted to see the Statue of Liberty while we were in NYC and see what the new immigrants to the United States saw when they sailed up into the harbour. So we caught the express subway downtown to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The Staten Island Ferry is free and you don’t even need a ticket. It leaves every half hour on the hour. It is a quick 20 or so-minute ferry ride to the island. We wanted to go out to Staten Island which is considered one of the 5 Burroughs of NYC; so that we could sail past the statue. You know she is not as big as one would imagine, she sure is pretty but really not that large. It was cloudy again so the pictures are going to seem gloomy. The weather has really sucked here in NYC. Out of the 39 countries that we have visited in the last 8 months, this would be the worst weather that we have encountered; we have been relatively lucky up till now. This was actually the one day that it did not rain but it was really gloomy.


Staten Island was one big disappointment and a bit seedy. We decided to walk around a bit before hopping back on the ferry. After walking around the area for about 45 minutes we came across some homeboys and my spidey senses were starting to tingle I never ignore these so we turned around and walked back to the terminal area. Besides Dax was in a real mood and not fun to be with like he normally is. We found that if he has to walk day after day to see sites, he shuts down on about the 5th day and naturally so. He is a great kid and he wants to play and he is allowed to have a bad day once in a while. Staten Island is not really that tourist friendly and I found nothing that would suggest that you should visit it. But the ferry gave us a free trip to see the statue of liberty. On our way back to the terminal we found a NYC hot dog vendor and bought a couple of dogs to eat. We also managed to find a frozen yogurt place in the terminal and Dax and I indulged in some frozen chocolate yogurt to enjoy on the ferry trip back. This treat made it worthwhile for Dax plus he really did want to see the Statue of Liberty. On the way back you also get some really great views of the NYC skyline and especially the Manhattan skyline.



After getting off the ferry we walked outside there was a comedy/dance troupe outside and Dax loves watching these guys so we stopped and watched the break dancing etc. We caught the ferry back and past the Manhattan Club up to the tram over to Roosevelt Island. You pay your 2.50 just like you would on the sub and take the tram over the East River to the small island. It is basically for the views because you ride in a large glassed-in tram car over the traffic and buildings and river and then take a steep dive into Roosevelt Island. There is not much to see but apartment buildings on this island so we decided to take the underground subway back to our block. We went to pick up a sub to eat and headed back to the Manhattan Club for the evening.