Sweet Tea and NYC: Bucket List: Statue of Liberty!

Today, I saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time in my life. I had the opportunity to go visit Ellis Island when I was about eight years old and I was visiting my sister over Spring Break. But my young mind could process the value of going to FAO Schwartz much better than engaging in touristy rituals. My poor sister indulged my request and I have regretted that decision over the years. Before coming to NYC this summer, I have visited the city with either my mom or my sister many times before. However, having never seen this national monument, I felt like I had missed out on a bit of the New York City experience. So I made a point to add that to my bucket list this time around.

Let's just say it didn't disappoint.

Now unfortunately Hurricane Sandy decided months ago that the statue needed a break from tourists and decided to do some damage to Ellis Island. The island is closed to the public for reconstruction so at this point the only option I had was to take a ferry that got me close enough to make up for the loss.

So today, I dragged Risi out of her apartment to embark on an adventure to Staten Island. I say adventure because the city is doing major construction on the downtown subway stations making it almost impossible to land at any of the stations at the bottom tip of Manhattan. The trip to Whitehall Station should have taken 20 minutes, but the adventure to Whitehall Station took 1 1/2 hours.

Once we got to Staten Island, we just walked around for 30 minutes until the next ferry came to take us back to Manhattan. Risi and I had fun just hanging out and talking. Even though we both live here, we don't always have time to hang out together so it is nice to get out with her every now and then. We also realized that we missed Manhattan more than we did our regular homes. This was that tragic moment when we realized we could be New Yorkers for real and be perfectly OK with it.