Statue of Liberty – what a view!!

Reaching the Crown of Lady Liberty

In recent summers, I have had a tradition where I ask the kids for some day trip ideas.  We then take vacation days and go on “mom field trips”.  When they were little it was always a local zoo, or the aquarium. Now their older and have more elaborate requests.  This summer Sydney said she wanted to climb the Statue of Liberty.  The last time I visited the Statue of Liberty, I was a Girl Scout.

I figured they were both old enough to tolerate the drive up and the inevitable security, so I said sure! So did the rest of the planet. Since they just reopened the Statue for climbing, the first available tickets (when I looked in late June) were for late October. Since the kids had a day off in mid-November, I decided our summer trip would become a fall one.  I convinced Jerry to come along, but he said “no” to the climb – small space, too high up. Besides, the ticket sales person said if you were over 6 feet and had any fear of heights, they recommended you stay on the ground and wave.

November 16th, off we went. The 2 1/2-ish hour drive wasn’t too bad. We got there with plenty of time to spare before our 11 am check in. Got the tickets, made it through the airport security for the ferry and off we went to Liberty Island.

Once we got to Liberty Island we had to check in, show ID, and get special wrist bands showing I had paid to climb to the crown. Then it was off for more security! It was confusing, because with our wrist bands you got to skip a lot of lines, but you had to constantly ask a park ranger where you were suppose to go, and show your wrist band. The security to get into the Statue itself was tight. You had to stand in a booth, get air shot at you, and then the computer thought about what it just registered. Then you went through regular airport type security on top of that.

Once you get into the Statue, we got to see the original torch (and pose for a photo), then go on through a museum about the origin of the Statue, her creators, the fundraising to get her built, etc. I had to read the stuff fast, or the kids got way to far ahead of me!

The nice park ranger informed us that usually there is an elevator you can take to the top of the pedestal, which gets you out of 150 steps. But the elevator is curently broken……  so we climbed 150 steps to the top of the pedestal, then another 202 from the base of the Statue to her crown. Wow!!! The girls were undaunted. Off we went!

The steps aren’t too bad at first, but the last 20 or so to the top of the pedestal are narrower and a lot steeper than the others. I think they are preparing us! When we get to the top of the pedestal, we show our wrist bands and head off to another staircase. The ranger guarding this one cuts off our bands and wishes us luck. 202 more to go! Now the staircase is a tight, tight spiral. Jerry would have walked up this hunchbacked. My feet only fit on securely if I turn them slightly sideways. I’m thinking “Jerry’s feet wouldn’t even fit on these…”. It doesn’t seem like 202 steps, and it goes pretty quickly, considering how tight the spiral is and how much you have to concentrate on where your feet are.

When we make it to the top it is all worth it! The view is phenomenal! New  York harbor, filled with boats and the New York skyline are all laid out in front of us. And it is a beautiful, clear day. The viewing area is a lot smaller than I remember. There are 6 of us up there at the same time, and I really don’t want any more bodies crowded up there. There are 2 park rangers manning the crown and they give us some background and “fun facts” on the statue. After we take in the view and get a few pictures, we climb back down.

The good news is, there is an up staircase and a down staircase. Good thing! Each staircase is only 1 body wide. The freaky part is that the stair area is encased in plexiglass. So you can see the inside “bones” of the statue, the copper, the way to climb up to her torch, and how far down the bottom is. You don’t notice this on the way up, because all you see is the steps in front of you. But you definitely notice it on the way down! It is an awesome view, once you get over any fear of being able to see way down to the bottom. Sydney was freaked out by the view, so she climbed down backwards.

Once we got to the top of the pedestal, we stepped out to look at the view, take more photos and find Jerry. After a bit of a search, we found him. After a few tries, we got his attention (and a couple other guys who answered to “Dad”). Then we continued our climb down. (stopping at each level on the pedestal to make sure Dad still could see us). Overall, it was a good day. Weather was perfect, climb was good. I wish we had stopped at Ellis Island. I really wanted to tour the museum. But that just gives me an excuse for a “mom field trip” in the spring!