NYC

It's one of those insanely beautiful New York weeks. The weather is so nice you think, "Gee, why don't we move to New York?" Then you remember the big problems: winter and summer. Also: the money aspect. Oh well.



Today we got up early to get on the employee boat to visit the Statue of Liberty. We had our own personal tour guide -- Ranger Dave. He was endlessly knowledgeable about the statue, the fort it sits on top of, the designer, the build process, etc. We did get to go to the front of several lines, which was awesome. But we did not get to climb up to the crown. Those tix are sold out months in advance -- you can book now for July, apparently -- and they only let in 10 people every 15 minutes. Dave says that's so people who get up there can really enjoy it, without the smashed crowds that I remember from when I was a kid. And they don't let the VIPs without tickets go in. The last ranger who did -- he let in some decorated military dudes -- was transfered to another job immediately. And from Dave's tone, it wasn't a good job.

We also went through some pretty intense security. We had to stride into a thing that seemed like an x-ray machine, but instead shot you with puffs of air -- and then sniffed you for chemical residue. They're not taking any chances with security there. And then some weird thing did happen with a helicopter getting too close, and suddenly there were police and coast guard and military helicopters circling around. We didn't find out what that was about. And we also saw a French navy battleship leaving port, with sailors standing up along the top rails, and trailing a big French flag. At one point it let out a giant plume of black smoke. Guess that was supposed to be celebratory.

Then we went to Ellis Island. Our ranger there, Melissa, wove quite a narrative as she told us the story of what life used to be like there. The biggest surprises: That in total, only about 2% of immigrants were rejected. 1% for health reasons, 1% for political/legal reasons. Also, that almost no one had their name changed at Ellis Island. The whole process there was about speed, because at its height they had 5,000 immigrants a day coming through. Sometimes people's names were incorrectly written on a ship's manifest, and those errors could persist through the Ellis Island process. But most of the people whose names were Americanized either did it themselves or had it done to them at some point later in their immigration experience.

And did I mention the spectacular weather?!?