The Statue of Liberty. Photo by coreanscribe.
A revisit of our N.Y.C. trip back in May features a tour of the Statue of Liberty.
We started that warm day with a coffee and bagel at Grounded, an organic coffee and tea house in the West Village.
My wife worked for the pastry chef Jacques Torres, “Mr. Chocolate,” when she lived in New York years ago. We decided to stop by one of his shops — the one in Soho — to check things out. We actually caught him at the location, just by luck. He was generous with his time and personally made us some of his delicious frozen hot chocolate as he and my wife reminisced about old times and caught up. What a treat!
Frozen hot chocolate. Photo by coreanscribe.
We then played the part of typical tourists and made our way to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
My ticket to liberty. Photo by coreanscribe.
She was glorious.
Statue of Liberty. Photo by coreanscribe.
Statue of Liberty. Photo by coreanscribe.
Statue of Liberty. Photo by coreanscribe.
Statue of Liberty. Photo by coreanscribe.
Here’s something I learned about Lady Liberty: she’s made of copper. That green color she wears is actually patina.
Liberty Island. Photo by coreanscribe.
We then took another ferry and made a visit to nearby Ellis Island. We enjoyed the exhibits but were disappointed to find that most of all the treasured artifacts we were looking forward to were unavailable for viewing. They’d been safely housed away because of Hurricane Sandy and still unreturned.
The Great Hall where immigrants were processed. Photo by coreanscribe.
Manhattan from Liberty Island. Photo by coreanscribe.
Freedom Tower One from ferry. Photo by coreanscribe.
We walked by One World Trade Center, or the “Freedom Tower,” after our Ellis Island tour. We planned to make our way to the 9/11 Memorial Museum because it had just recently opened, but the wait was much longer than we anticipated. So, we decided to scratch that plan, and, instead, we promised ourselves to make it a priority to visit on our next visit to Manhattan.
Freedom Tower from near Ground Zero. Photo by coreanscribe.
WTC PATH subway station still under construction near the Freedom Tower. Photo by coreanscribe.
We then headed back to where we started our day: the West Village. We stopped by the Corner Bistro for an early dinner. It’s one of my wife’s favorite New York haunts and it was a chance for her to revisit some old memories.
We loaded the jukebox with some great tunes and enjoyed some cheeseburgers and beers. The food was so good it knocked us out. We headed straight back to the hotel and went to bed early.
The Bohemian bar in West Greenwich Village. Photo by coreanscribe.