Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I plucked a pen out of my purse today. It happens to be the pen that Mike bought for me in the gift shop on Liberty Island when we visited the Statue of Liberty in June. We took Lauren and Kara and spent a week in New York City. Just getting there was a major challenge, but I'm really glad we went. We walked (and rode the subway and the boat) all over Manhattan and Queens. We visited not only Liberty Island, but also Ellis Island, the World Trade Center site, the courts area where scenes from Law and Order are filmed, China Town and so much more. On Sunday we started with Times Square and the areas near there. Times Square itself is overwhelming--lights, motion, color and people, people, people. I have never seen so much going on in one place in my life. Monday was the visit to Liberty Island. It was an all-day outing. First you stand in line to buy your ticket, then get in another line to board the ferry. The wait was relieved by a fellow playing steel drum. When he found out we were from Texas, he immediately began playing "The Yellow Rose of Texas." It was too good. We had to give him a good tip. Then came the security line, which Mike had to step out of because he had a pocket knife. We waited while he found a shrub to hide the knife in and returned to join us on the ferry. Off to Liberty Island. After wandering around there for a while (including Mike's stop at the gift shop) we continued on to Ellis Island. We couldn't find any ancestors who had landed there, but it was an interesting visit anyway. While in line, we also met a nice couple from France and had a good conversation in French. Back we went to Battery Park on Manhattan, found Mike's knife, and headed to the subway. In the station, we had an interesting conversation with two NYPD officers. I was incredulous to find that their starting salary is only $25,000. Officers start here at more than $40,000 and our cost of living is much, much less. They told us that houses in places like Staten Island start at $500,000. And that's not Manhattan--things there cost a lot more.........
to be continued.

1 comment:

Kinderbeanie :) said...

Hi Sherry,

I also had a pen--well, not really, a purple marker, but it works as a writing tool! I loved your story and connections to your pen. Isn't it so amazing that such a simple activity can bring forth such vivid tales? Who would have thought??? How could this activity work with your kiddos?

Thanks for sharing!

Joyce :)