NYC - Sunday

We had one scheduled activity for Sunday - to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Both are now run by the National Park Service. Statute Cruises continually runs ferries between Battery Park and both monuments. We walked quickly around the Statue of Liberty then spent most of our time at Ellis Island. What a fantastic preservation of America's history. If you get a chance to see Ellis Island - do it! It is all at once inspiring and haunting. We spent several hours touring the different rooms. Once back in Manhattan, we took a rest then headed out to the South Street Seaport. During the morning, it is a working fish market. By lunch time, it is transformed into a tourist destination. We found a great seafood spot on the third floor and sat out on the balcony overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. It was great food and an even better view. After dinner we walked to Ground Zero. We were surprised by the size of the space that is now a hole in the skyline. There is construction happening on the ground level - the beginnings of the Freedom Tower to be completed in 2012. The most moving part of the walk for us was when we came upon FDNY Station 10 - literally right across the street from the World Trade Center site. There was a beautiful memorial to all the men and women from that house who lost their lives 7 years ago. At the same time, there were men and women in that fire station ready to go at any moment and save lives. On our way back to the hotel, we entered the subway system right across from the WTC site. We had to walk several blocks (underground) to get to a working stop because the WTC subway stop is closed; however, you walk right past it and the gates are locked. I don't know what else to say...