Brown Eyed Girl: Trip to Ellis Island

Trip to Ellis Island

June 8, 2012

Train, Subway and Ferry

On Friday, Ginny and I traveled into the city from the marina. We had hoped to see Ellis Island and Ground Zero. To get to Ellis Island you have to take a commuter train from Croton to Grand Central Station, take a subway to Battery Park and then a ferry to Ellis Island. The Croton train stop is less than a mile from the marina and we got a ride with a couple who were going to visit West Point. We caught the 9:30 train because it is the first off peak train in the morning so the fare is less. The train takes about an hour to get to Grand Central. We had looked up on the Internet how to get to the ferry and it said to take train #4 or #5 South to the Bowling Green Station. We bought our tickets and smashed into a very crowded subway car. The subway got less crowded as we made our way South. Bowling Green is on stop after Wall Street. We got off the subway walked up the stairs and we were in Battery Park about 200 yards from the ferry. We got in line to buy ferry tickets and when we got up to the booth they charged our credit card but only gave us one ticket. The attendant said his computer froze so we waited for a supervisor and when it was fixed they gave us complimentary tickets so we saved $34. The line to get on the ferry was huge and they have airport-like security which takes forever. We made it through without mishap and got on the ferry. The ferry goes to Liberty Island and lets the passengers off that want to see the Statue of Liberty and then continues on to Ellis Island. The statue is closed right now for renovations so we just went on to Ellis Island. The building consists of three floors of displays and exhibits. It took quite a while to make our way through. The line to get back on the ferry for New York was long and we had to wait for a couple of ferries. We were dead tired and our feet hurt so when we got back to Battery Park we decided to take the subway back to Grand Central and head to the boat. We did very well and did not get lost or mugged. We didn't get back to the marina until about 4:00. We had another happy hour and went to dinner at a local Italian restaurant with some other Loopers. We are off tomorrow for Kingston.