New York City Trip...Day Two

Ah, our second day of our teacher trip to New York...it was another busy one. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't really on our side. It hadn't rained for like 14 days in New York, and it was sprinkling from the moment we stepped out of our hotel. Our first stop was Ellis Island. This is the view I got from the ferry headed toward the island. What an amazing place. You should really read the history of how this island changed and grew as more and more immigrants came to our country. It is amazing. I learned so much and I can't wait to share with my kids!

I have to tell you, I look really great in all the pictures from day two...that is what rain, humidity and lack of sleep do for you. This is me outside Ellis Island's main entrance (to the main building). Of course the metal and glass awning was added when they opened the museum.

As you enter the museum there are suitcases and trunks that immigrants carried as they came into our country. Imagine trying to put all the important things in your life in one trunk...how did they do it?

This is a shot of the Great Hall...this is where all of the inspections were done. It is a beautiful place...and that chandelier, it's an antique from Tiffany's.

While we were doing our workshop and tour in Ellis Island, it decided to STORM, I mean bad storm. So my friend Angie and I invested in 8 dollar ponchos. Yeah they were really cool - they had a huge Ellis Island emblem on the back...tourist...who me? It was worth the 8 bucks...trust me.

After we left Ellis Island, we got on the ferry to go to Liberty Island. She is amazing! She really is beautiful.

We were not allowed to go up in the torch while we were there. It was closed for some reason.

Isn't she so pretty? It is amazing to imagine what the immigrants felt as they pulled up to our country and saw her in the distance. It was so cool!

This is a view from the ferry heading back to Manhattan...this is the skyline where the Twin Towers once stood.

Here is Ground Zero. It was weird seeing it. It wasn't what I thought it would be...I'm not sure why. As I stood their I imagined what it would have been like on that day...I remember watching the TV footage in my fourth hour class in highschool and then again in sixth hour and what seemed like all night when I got home from school that day. It was one of those things that was so sad, but you couldn't help but watch. I can't even imagine what New York was like that day. They are in the process of building the memorial. We were there the day the discovered the ship from the 1400's during the excavation. Cool!

After Ground Zero, we rode the subway one last time and headed to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. After that we walked around Central Park and Uptown.

I didn't see anybody famous on my trip, but it was still cool. I'm really excited to share all the cool things I learned about immigration and immigrants with my kiddos this year. This was the ultimate field trip.