May 29 - Jun 2, 2016 Jersey City, New Jersey

Rain, rain and more rain. No exception traveling to Jersey City. Also, we traveled on Memorial Day, so we hit a lot of traffic coming into Jersey City. Tolls, tolls and more tolls! I guess that is the price to come into the big area of New York/New Jersey... Our park, Liberty Harbor RV Park, is nothing more than a parking lot. I can stretch my hand from our coach and touch the one next to us. Luckily, we had one side open so it made it easier to park. We are next to the Hudson River and with a short walk we can see New York City across the river... And we are only about 1/2 mile from the train station that will take us to the sites we want to see... So it's expensive and not very attractive, but it's convenient!
  

You have to fit your coach and your vehicle on the same space or pay extra so we made it work! Pretty much locked in!!!
  

LIBERTY STATE PARK, NEW JERSEY
Well the weather is dreadful but this view is from Liberty State Park which is next to our RV Park... It's a nice park with views of Manhattan, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. This park is the site of the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey.
  



Empty Sky is the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial to the state's victims of the September 11 attacks.
  



ELLIS ISLAND & STATUE OF LIBERTY
Ellis Island is where immigrants, mostly Europeans, took the first steps to becoming Americans.  After arriving on steamships, they were ferried to Ellis Island for processing. The facility processed its first immigrant on January 1, 1892. Five years later it burned along with many immigration records. It reopened in December of 1900. After arriving, the first stop was the Registration Room where they were asked 31 questions including name, place of birth, occupation, destination, and amount of money they were carrying. About 20% were detained for further medical or legal examination but only about 2% were ultimately denied entry. From 1892 until it closed in 1954, Ellis Island processed 12 million immigrants. In the early 1900s, approximately 5000 immigrants were processed daily. A third of the immigrates stayed in New York, the remaining started their new lives via the Central Railroad of New Jersey. There are three floors of exhibits in the museum. There is also an area where you can search for records. Other buildings that can be toured are the 1930s Ferry Building, hospital, morgue, contagious disease wards, offices, housing and maintenance facilities.

   

When the Statue of Liberty was completed in 1886, it was the tallest statue in the world and the tallest structure in New York City. It stands 305' tall from the ground to the tip of the torch. The original torch is on display in the base of the statue.

   

WORLD TRADE CENTER 9/11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM
The memorial has the name of each person that died that day etched along the sides. Birthdays are acknowledged by flowers placed on the names.
  

  



The museum shows a complete timeline of the events of September 11th. There is also a picture and short biography of each person that died that day. It was heartbreaking to watch the news coverage and listen to the survivors' stories. The entire world came together that day and the following days of recovery.
   

  

"No day shall erase you from the memory of time"

  

A Callery pear tree was found at Ground Zero severely damaged and burned. It was rehabilitated and returned to the memorial in 2010 where it is known as the "Survivor Tree." It is a symbol of resilience, survival, and rebirth.



TIMES SQUARE
Can you imagine being here on New Years Eve with thousands of other people?

  

CENTRAL PARK
On our last day in New York City, we visited what is probably the best part of New York City. It is an escape from the crowded, busy city.