My First
Visit to New York City and Ellis Island
The trip seemed well planned. My father was at the wheel of
our 65 Chevy Impala and my mother was in her usual back seat driver status even
before he turned the ignition key and start the engine. We were all excited and
although the trip would be a long one, it was most interesting to say the least
of all the good things we heard about New York City and the Statue of Liberty
on Ellis Island.
It was
to be the summer vacation we would never forget. The three siblings sitting
quietly in the roomy purple colored sedan each had a spot staked out with me at
the passenger window, my little brother in the middle and my older sister
sitting behind my father. It was going to be an exciting adventure driving from
Ohio to New York and stopping along the way to enjoy the countryside and
special attractions our parents had picked out for us.
About two hours into the drive the enthusiasm had worn off.
My father’s driving skills were not the best and when he drifted off the
shoulder we were rudely awakened as we got bored and decided to take a nap when
we could. Right out of town we were
playing games like good children would and behaving trying to get along with
each other. It wasn’t easy but my father would not take any nonsense from us so
we best stayed quiet or not as loud as my mother reinforced his wishes.
We drove for hours and when I noticed we were in
Pennsylvania we stopped to pay at a toll to take the turnpike. We had never
been on a turnpike before and never knew you could drive so fast on it as we
cruised along at the speed limit but others cars were zooming past us like we
were standing still.
I heard my mother tell my father we needed to gas up and as
he nodded his head we headed out to the first exit to get gassed up as we paid
the man at the booth as we exited the turnpike. I had never seen such a scam
before taking money for driving on a public road.
We found a Shell station and gassed up, used the restrooms
and decided to find a place to eat the sandwiches made for the trip. We always
had food prepared for the trip and put this in several containers in the trunk
of the car. Drinking water and eating egg salad sandwiches we filled our
bellies and went back on the road.
Repeating the toll booth drill my father took the ticket and
drove off telling us we are halfway there. It must have been a good four hours
into the drive and we were all exhausted, bored and restless. We wanted to see
the Statue of Liberty and when we were told it was at least four more hours, we
just moaned.
Once we all three fell asleep and when we woke up because
the car had hit a hard bump on the road we noticed the place we saw was exactly
like the place where we decided to close our eyes and take a nap. I think we
were going in circles and lost but nobody said a thing to the driver. We knew
better.
Leaving at the break of dawn was a good idea. The day was
long and sun was going down when my father said he needed a break. We had
already left the turnpike and we were on a four lane interstate highway heading
east when he decided to pull into this small town to gas up and rest a bit in a
shady place.
The car had air conditioning but my father never used it. He
liked driving with the windows down and stick his arm out there while driving.
We were talking amongst ourselves saying if my father wouldn’t drive so slowly
or have gotten lost, we would have been there by now. We all broke out in
laughter.
My mother was upset and was yelling at my father for taking
too many breaks and taking too long to get to New York. Finally when we saw the
sign greeting us in the state of New Jersey, her mood changed a little and
began telling us the rules once we got there. Driving in the big cities as we
got closer to our destination was a nightmare. He had a map but it was obvious
we were lost.
It was almost dark and finding a place to eat and sleep
would have been nice but they had no plans were to stay after a 12 hour drive.
I had a feeling we would all be sleeping in the car tonight.
My parents were yelling at each other. My mother screaming
“you missed your exit and now we are lost” and my father finally telling her to
shut up. Oh oh, nobody tells my mother to shut up because the last time those
words were used, she stopped talking for over a week. We could tell she was
angry as she stared out the window and let father do the navigating himself.
Finally out of despair he pulled over and asked a New Jersey
policeman for directions. The officer laughed out loudly and told him he was
off course for almost 90 miles and gave him directions to get back on the route
we had planned. Sleeping in a road side park off the highway, we all rested and
laid back to spend the night in the back seat of the car.
Daylight came and we were less than a few hours away from
our destination. We drove to the ferry that took us to Liberty Island because
that was where the statue was. Ellis Island was right next to this other island
but the sign said the statue was on Liberty Island so we took the ferry there.
The biggest surprise of this trip was when we found out the
Liberty Island Park ferry we were to take to the island was on the New Jersey
side, not New York and the statue was on Liberty Island and not Ellis Island.We never made it to New York City. We didn't have to go
there once the cop told us we could get to it from the New Jersey side of the
harbor. Well planned indeed but some important details were obviously left out.
Finding
a parking place was not problem for there was plenty of space. We were there
early and through the hazy fog we could see the 72 story high statue. A
magnificent view she was holding up the torch and seeing her tall crown as
plain as day.
Excited as we could be, we watched the ferry pull up and
after loading up the people who wanted to go to the island we arrived and
joined a group that was talking to woman and man in uniform [rangers] and
wearing Smokey the bear hats. I could tell they were cops or something.
Everybody was wearing sneakers except my father. He wore
hard soled shoes out of habit. It was suggested we wore comfortable shoes as we
walked with the crowd and listened to the rangers give us all a history lesson.
We walked the 393 steps to the crown and roamed around before we were told we
had to go down because another group was coming in.
We spent a good two hours on the island and we bought some
souvenirs and post cards to show we were there but most of all we saw what was
a most impressive figure of Lady Liberty. Did I mention we ate there and fueled
up our bodies skipping breakfast? We were all hungry.
Finally, standing in awe besides this grand lady of
symbolism and how she was dressed with all her splendor standing there, tall
and welcoming everybody into the country wearing her magnificent crown and
holding the torch of freedom. For me this lengthy excursion was well worth the
time.
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