US here we come

Yesterday (Thursday 15th May) we were all up early to be at the ferry terminal at Battery Point, the southern tip of Manhattan, for the ferry ride to Ellis Island, the site where 12 million immigrants to the US were processed between the 1890s and the 1920s. The ferry passes the Statue of Liberty from a distance. Ellis Island is a wonderfully preserved national heritage site and museum. It’s just brilliant and we could have spent a couple of full days just looking around. I met with staff of the museum, including the oral history officer. It’s all very impressive and inspiring – and a hugely popular spot for local and international visitors (more than three million a year). Unfortunately, Joey genuinely does not like museums – he did warn us of this prior to leaving Australia – but we hoped he might change once here. C’est la vie. We’re just having to do any museum visits under a degree of unpleasantness and certainly more speedily than we’d like. Thus, we only had the morning at Ellis Island.

Anyway, it’s all been very good and here are some photos of Ellis Island, the museum, the ferry trip back to Battery Point and also the Monument to the Immigrants, which is in Battery Point park. I’ve also included a photo I took of the Statue of Liberty from the ferry.

Joan on the ferry.

Ellis Island from the ferry.

Barry at the famous clearance hall on Ellis Island.

A display at the museum.

Statue of Liberty from ferry.

Back to Manhattan (Battery Point) on the ferry.

The Monument to the Immigrants at Battery Point, Manhattan.