This is not really a show review because there was no show this day, at least no live show, but it was a truly great day.  Since there was no concert, Scott and I decided to visit the real Isle of Hope: Ellis Island.  After Wednesday's show we covered half the distance from Rochester to New York and on Thursday we went the rest of the way.  I had gotten tickets for the noon ferry and our targeted arrival was 11am so we would have time for lunch before heading “out to sea.”  Traffic was not totally cooperative but we made it in plenty of time to catch our boat.  Island visitors must go through a security screening very similar to the one at an airport.  You don't have  to remove your shoes unless there is significant amount of metal, such as a buckle, but you do have to remove your belt.

The ferries run from the dock to Ellis Island, then to Liberty Island, and finally back to the dock.  There are two ferry terminals, one at Liberty State park on the New Jersey side and one at Battery Park in lower Manhattan.  You can get on and off the ferries any time and stay as long as you want at each location.  We had figured on maybe 3 hours total for the tours and being on our way to Connecticut for Friday's Mohegan Sun show by 3:30pm.  We missed that by a mile!

If you visit Ellis Island, allow at least 3 hours to really see all of the exhibits and soak it all in.  It is a very impressive place and very moving.  There are exhibits on the building of the facility, the various steps potential immigrants went through, how the immigration process has changed over the years, and so much more.  There is a nice display dedicated to Annie Moore who was indeed a real person.  She is buried in Queens and there is nice background history on her as well as a statue.  You will leave with a much greater respect for how immigrants shaped and defined this country from the late 1800's through the mid-1900's and the sacrifices they made in the process.

It was after 3pm when we finally took the next ferry to Liberty Island.  Because we had tickets that permitted us to actually enter the base of the monument we had to go through a second security screening.  This one was very similar to the first with the addition of an “air puff” test  to check for explosives residue on the skin and clothing.  Once through that, though, we had free reign to walk through the museum and up to the observation deck at the statue's base.  Even though we weren't going all the way to the crown (those tickets need to be reserved at least 4-5 months in advance) it is still 275 steps to the observation platform.  It reminded me of Red Rocks except that there was more oxygen available.

The museum has some very nice exhibits on the statue's origin, including alternate designs that were considered, and on both the original construction and the various refurbishments that have been done over the years.  There are samples of some of the components and a life-size replica of one of Liberty's feet to provide a little sense of scale.  The stairway to the observation deck is inside the hollow base and you can see first-hand many of the construction details.  Once you reach the top of the stairs you can look straight up into the statue itself, which is also hollow.

The view from the observation deck is breathtaking and you can see most of New York City's boroughs and bridges, as well as New Jersey.  The luxury liner Queen Mary 2 was in port and dwarfs everything around it.  There is a lot to see, including a huge variety of both marine and air traffic.

Back inside the base there was a park ranger providing a little commentary in a style reminiscent of Barry White or Lou Rawls.  As we walked back down the steps, I said to Scott that the National Park Service had “hired Lou Rawls to do color commentary.”  What I didn't realize was that there was a female park ranger on the stairs right behind me.  She broke out laughing and called him on her radio to relay my observation.  I felt a little embarrassed but they all took it in the fun spirit it was intended and I was not detained.

Once out of the base, there are multiple viewing locations and we circled the statue several times so I could get pictures.  We missed the 4pm ferry (“by that much,” as Maxwell Smart would say) and had to wait for the 4:30 boat.  We got back to the ferry terminal and on the road by about 5:15.  That put us not only in the thick of the commuter rush but also in the middle of World Series traffic.  It took us over an hour just to get to the other side of Manhattan and longer still to finally clear the metro area.  We had planned on stopping for dinner prior to our intended arrival in Connecticut to watch the new Songs from the Heart  special being aired exclusively by CPTV that night.  Due to traffic, we skipped dinner and made it to the hotel, checked in, turned on the TV and located the PBS station with literally 45 seconds to spare.  As mentioned in my review here, it was totally worth it.  After the show we went to a local diner, a quintessential “greasy spoon” if there ever was one, to finally get a late dinner.

I should also mention the weather.  It had rained pretty much all day in Rochester on Wednesday, it was drizzly all the way to Binghamton and it continued for the first hour or so as we headed out Thursday morning.  As we got farther east, though, the clouds started to break up and by the time we got to Liberty Park the sun was shining.  As we boarded the ferry the last of the clouds vanished and we were treated to an absolutely glorious fall day with crystal clear blue skies as far as the eye could see.  That continued throughout the day and it wasn't until we returned to the dock to head north that the clouds began to return.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect if we had put in a personal request to Mother Nature herself.

It was an amazing day on the Roadtrip, one that has had a profound effect on both Scott and me.  We both remarked that Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears was playing in our heads the whole time we were at Ellis Island.  That song, as well as O, America, now have so much more meaning and have become very emotional to watch and listen to.

The original review is here.