New York Story – Part II
Saturday - Afternoon & Early Evening

I don’t know why it didn’t dawn on any of us that we would have to go through security checks, as would all of the holiday revelers, so lines everywhere were going to be unavoidable, so our plan to avoid the tourists was doomed before we put it into action, but, as they say, ignorance is bliss. :)

We didn’t get off at stops like Soho, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Ground Zero, instead we rode the bus until we reached our destination of Battery Park and the ferries. We hustled over to “Castle Clinton” (a historic landmark that has nothing to do with contemporaries who unfortunately share the same name) and joined the line for the security check before boarding any of the many ferries.

Around that time I happened to glance behind and up and saw the most magnificent view of buildings, old and new, towering overhead. I squealed and pointed, grabbing for my camera so I could take my first memorable shot of my visit to New York City. Just that morning, before boarding the train to the city, I demanded that we stop somewhere for me to get film ($6.89 for a single roll!) because I had forgotten to pack any. I grabbed my roll of film and went to put it in … only to discover that the camera battery was dead.

What are the odds?

The last time I had replaced the battery was last January, while visiting sunny Puerto Rico. The battery died and they just happened to have the type I needed at the Historic Fort gift shop (believe me, it was obviously meant for me to find that battery, because they had almost nothing in that gift shop, souvenir & postcard-wise, so I really couldn't believe my luck when the one battery they had hanging on the shelf was the lithium demanded by my cute little Nikon.)

After having that incredible luck with the Puerto Rico trip, I was doomed to disappointment in New York. So what's a girl to do, spend the rest of the day searching for a battery? You better believe it and I began my search right there at the vendors gathered at Castle Clinton.

Although I encountered various street thugs carrying briefcases filled with “rolex” watches of dubious authenticity, bags of sunglasses, bags of imitation handbags (Gucci, Fendi, Coach, Prada, etc) pictures, paintings, snowglobes with various New York landmarks inside, cheesey New York t-shirts and tons of other wares, no one had my battery. Everyone seemed to be selling disposable cameras, but I didn't want one of those, I wanted to take pictures with the advanced functions (on demand panaramic ... zoom, which I love! ... etc) of my very own Nikon.

So there I stood, the most beautiful view of the NY Skyline perfectly centered in the viewfinder, but no way to capture it, for want of a battery. It was a very sad thing for a slightly deranged shutterbug such as myself. All of my relatives tried to placate me with "we'll get doubles and you can have copies" but it just wasn't the same. I take pictures that others might think are slightly odd, but that's how I like to commemorate places I've been ... pictures of buildings, an architectural element, a scenic doorway with a hanging flowerbox, and such. Pictures that others probably wouldn't take and don't want, that's what I like! Humph. (Yes, I sulked. However, I did keep pointing out good shots to my cousins and mom so they could get a few in their rolls that I might like to have when developing time came around.)

We waited in line for approximately 45 minutes. It moved along at a pace I dubbed the “New York Shuffle” … that would be where you are pressed in a group with hundreds of others and you shuffle along looking up at buildings, perhaps pointing (a’la John Travolta “Saturday Night Live”style) which is not to be confused with the Hustle ---that was being done by the roving street vendors selling the watches, bags, and assorted fake jewelry.

As we were shuffling along, a younger black man with a fairly heavy Jamaican accent came around telling everyone to “double up the line” which basically meant that instead of being single file or perhaps two deep, suddenly we were 4 and 6 deep, with people that were about 50 people behind you now suddenly in front of you. When several people protested this (quite mildly too for New York, they must have been tourists) he said “I am just trying to do my job here!” making it sound as if he worked for the National Parks Service, the ones in charge of screening us, pre-boarding.

All too soon it became obvious that this man was a bit of an operator. He wanted to put on some sort of acrobatic stunt act and in order to have as many potential money givers around him as possible he needed to “double up” the lines.

He and “Yogi the Amazing Contortionist” proceeded to awe and amaze the crowd (I’m guessing they were awed and amazed, although I myself was not, due largely to the fact that I could not see anything but some very talented ducks in the harbor … they were sitting up and begging! Wiggling their little duck tails in the water like a mini prop and squawking loudly. They were definitely worth watching, unlike Yogi.) After he did his routine of flips and other tricks, he passed the hat in the crowd accompanied by a running stream of smart ass comments, as well as sending someone along the row that could see absolutely nothing (my row.) One man in front of me asked “are you paying us for this inconvenience? Thanks!” as he reached his hand towards the hat that was passing in front of him. I giggled at his little joke, it deserved a giggle and didn’t get one from the disgruntled hat bearer.


Finally, we were able to move past old Yogi and progress onwards to our goal of getting on a ferry. We were hustled through security with no problems (we even had to remove our watches, which was a new one for me.) However, as soon as we made it through we were hustled aboard a ferry that was rumbling and ready to go. My cousin Laurie hauled us along to the top deck of the ferry, where we would have a premium view of the Manhattan skyline, and a picture postcard perfect camera angle for the Statue of Liberty shots (for those who had a functioning camera, of course.)

The ferry was hot and stinky, not to mention the frolicsome bucking from the waves kicked up in the harbor. We weren't on it long enough for me to gain sea legs, so I wobbled my way down all of the stairs to use the bathroom. Quaint little signs stating "Water not fit for drinking" dotted the walls in the toilet area, making me wonder what may have happened to make the sign necessary ... After washing my
hands with water that wasn't fit to drink, I staggered back upstairs to the chaos that was the upper deck of the ferry. Mom and Laurie were demolishing hot dogs and drinking big old Cokes. I asked if this was lunch, but Mom said it was simply a snack because we were going to be heading to historic South Port to eat at a nice restaurant overlooking the water. Personally, if we were heading to a nice place, then I was going to wait it out and bypass the hot dog. Why fill up on the junk? Not me! I’m saving the pig-out for the good stuff!

Just then we came upon the green lady with torch and the entire right side of the ferry (is that the starboard side, or port?) Either way, the boat listed as all of the passengers rushed over there to get a picture. I figured I would add my weight to the left side to try to help balance us because otherwise we were going to flip over from all of the lucky touristas with functional cameras...

We were informed that the Statue of Liberty was still closed, as it has been since September 11, 2001, so an executive decision was reached ... we would proceed directly to Ellis Island, smugly thinking we would avoid many of the tourists and have Ellis Island to ourselves. We stayed on the ferry (with the majority of tourists, who had obviously arrived at the same conclusion we had) disembarking with all of the other hordes of people at Ellis Island. First glimpse, it looked like a military fortress, which makes sense considering the property was built on the remains of a fort; red brick, gleaming black wrought iron, and fresh white painted trim. The entrance to the main building, THE building that all immigrants came to first, had a facade decorated with sweeping windows and soaring heights that gave the building the look of a palace. There were two bell towers (actually, there are 4, but we could only see 2 at first), peaked burnt-red roofs and so much cast concrete that you would swear the building was white. Elaborate wrought iron & bronze touches were everywhere: crowning the tops of the bell towers, lining the eaves of the roof, trimming the balconies. It was truly a spectacular sight; thank you Mr. Lee Iacoca for your fundraising efforts that led to this magnificent renovation.

We joined the line and filtered into the great hall, once again following Laurie the Intrepid One. She led us to the Park Service booth where we each purchased walking tour headphones and little walkman type devices with a keypad to select applicable recordings, based on the exhibit facing us. We each put our headphones on (with only a grimace or two for the thought of the many ears that had worn these before us ... UGH!) and sauntered over to begin the tour. All four of us spent the next 40 minutes or so wandering around, gazing around vacantly as we listened to the recorded tour. Like idiots we either gestured at things we wanted each other to notice (doing our best Mime impressions) or attempted to speak (ie, YELL) so that
the others of us could hear them over the loud noise in their own ears. We were very popular with the other tourists who had not elected to do the walking tour ...

What can I say about this tour? It was better than I ever expected. Made me get teary-eyed listening to actual immigrant recollections that were recorded as part of the tour. Made us all understand exactly how brave our immigrant ancestors were, because to come to Ellis Island was a truly terrifying thing. All I can really say is this is one of the best things about my visit to New York, AND my co-touristas agreed. I know they were just humoring me in my wish to visit and see the commemorative wall, but once they got there, I think it got to them, too. We all wandered around the grounds outside, looking at the amazing wall of ancestor names that stretches in a huge, undulating circle, filled with hundreds of thousands of names, all engraved with donated money, thanks to Lee Iacoca's vision.

I think I can safely say that we were all thrilled with this trip. And best of all, it was FREE! Two thumbs up, WAAAAY UP, for the Ellis Island Tour!

After Ellis Island we were all starving and it was starting to get a bit "dusklike" ... none of us knew how the day had slipped away, but it was fast approaching night-time, and long past dinner time according to my stomach.