Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Yes, I am someone who goes to Liberty Island and takes a picture of Lady Liberty's tush. It's artistic.

Yesterday was spent in pursuit of our American Heritage as we toured Ellis and Liberty Islands. The kids and I joined up with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and cousin's family in Jersey City and took the ferry from Liberty State Park. Guys -- if you ever want to visit these places, THIS is the way to do it. Avoid Castle Clinton (the Manhattan ferry landing) and traipse to Jersey. I've done it both ways and Jersey is simply more civilized. (Gasp!) And, for out of towners, parking is MUCH less expensive. ($5 versus at least $35) And ... If you do the islands quickly (we did not) you can play in Liberty State Park.

We have been to Ellis Island a few times and never bothered with Liberty Island. I admit it, we are line snobs. I HATE standing on line and since you cannot climb all the way to her crown I have had no desire to venture inside since they reopened the Lady. I am content with the view from afar. Eventually, however, one must go and yesterday was the day. The line to get in to the pedestal was quite slow due to the bomb sniffing machines that everyone has to pass through. That was an interesting experience and before we got to them we were briefly evacuated. My public view is that we encountered a drill. My private view ... I wanted to get off the Island. I live far to close to Ground Zero to be comfortable with an evacuation from a National Monument.

This is why I knit, the plain sock now has a heel (see below) and is a few stripes up the cuff.

I expect to make one more trip to Ellis Island in the next year or so after Male Child finishes his immigration unit and wants to see it more in depth. Female child was able to act as a tour guide, having been there 3 times before (twice with us and once with school).

Overall it was a lovely day. The family came back into Manhattan and we fed them Indian food and then chowed down on Ben and Jerry's. Today -- the Bronx Zoo!

And now for those of you that need your fiber content ... The Mitered Sweater

And the plain sock (the second sock).