Our last day in New York was gorgeous sunny day with clear blue skies but it was the coldest! Minus 7 degrees all day. The girls were very exited to visit the Statue of Liberty; there’s something about iconic buildings and landmarks that resonate with kids. They loved the Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Italy and Big Ben in London. On our previous trip in 2014, Braino and I had opted for the budget friendly way of seeing the Statue of Liberty; taking the public ferry across to Staten Island and back. But this time around, we decided it was worth the money to take the official ferry to Liberty Island and see the Statue up close. This trip also includes a stop at the Ellis Island National Musuem of Immigration, which I was really looking forward to.
We booked our Statue of Liberty experience tickets on the Headout App and caught the subway down to Battery Park in the Financial District where the ferries depart from. It was $125 USD for all of us.
The view looking back on the Manhattan skyline was amazing! And seeing the Statue of Liberty close up was a very cool experience too. Our ticket didn’t include climbing up inside the statue but we could walk around the base. The best part was the very informative museum that details the origin, construction and significance of the Statue. Absolutely the best way for the girls to learn about the history of it.
We ate lunch at the cafe on Liberty Island (the girls will remember the pigeons flying around inside) before catching the ferry to the next destination, the National Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island.
This was honestly my favourite thing we did in New York. Braino loved it too. It was so fascinating to realise that everyone who came to America from 1892 to 1954 - which was over 12 million immigrants - had to pass through Ellis Island. The main immigration hall has been preserved and now holds detailed exhibitions of the accounts of immigrations, the process they went through once they arrived at Ellis Island and what their life was like once they settled in America. It really gives you a perspective of what life was like only a few generations ago, before airplane travel has allowed us to see so much of the world. And after spending so much time exploring Europe and Great Britain, it puts into perspective how recent the modern histories of the United States and Australia for that matter, really are. There is no better way to learn about history than through travel.
I wished we could have explored the other spooky old buildings that make up the rest of the Immigration Center - the hospital quaters, the quarantine quarters and builidngs were people had to live for extended periods of time if their immigration requests were taken long to process.
Once we got back to Manhattan, we caught the subway across to Brooklyn, mainly to see the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge and visit Williamsburg, where we had stay for half our two weeks in NYC back in 2014.
Navigating the subway and wandering the streets is, in our opinion, one of the best ways to see the sights and get a feel for New York. The girls had been absolute little champions with all the walking were had been going. And we found the subways to be pretty safe, if a litte old and grimey.
But once we arrived in Brooklyn, in the early afternoon, we just couldn’t deny how cold it was, even with all the layers we were wearing. Our hands were starting the freeze and we hadn’t packed any gloves. The blue sky and the sunshine were very deceptive. After capturing the classic photos of the bridges, we retreated back to the subways and headed for the accomodation.
We stopped in at the apartment for a restful afternoon before heading back out to Time Square, where we celebrated our last night in New York with a family dinner at Applebees! Very classy! Haha. To stretch the budget out we had generally been cooking basic dinners at the apartment and eating breakfast in too. Lunch was really the only meal we ate out most days.
This trip to New York as cemented Braino’s love for the city, Hallie loved it too, it’s now one of her favourite places. We now have goals to spend a month here later in life, once we’re retired (once the girls are grown up but maybe they can come too) - exploring all the restaurants, museums, galleries, theatre shows, music, sports and iconic architecture. Visiting with the girls has been amazing, but it’s been a very budget friendly, kid orientated trip. We managed surprisingly well considering the freezing winter temperatures but I wouldn’t recommend visiting in January. Even March / April back in 2014 was chilly. A summer in New York is still on the bucket list.