CTMQ

Destroying the myth that there is nothing to do here

green mountain modern house
  • CTMQ’s Town Guides
    • Town Completion Celebrations
  • Museums
    • Museum Visits
  • Hikes, Bikes, & Paddles
    • CFPA Trails & Blue Trails Challenge
    • State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites
    • Land Trust Trails
    • Town Trails
    • Audubon, Nature Conservancy, RWA, and US Army Corps of Engineers Trails
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Cycling, Multi-Use, & Rails-to-Trails Paths
    • Water Trails
  • Food & Drink
    • Best, Historic, & Unique Restaurants & Foods
    • Classic Diners & True Taverns
    • Homemade Ice Cream, Cheese, & Chocolate Trails
    • Breweries, Brewpubs, & Cideries
    • Wineries & Meaderies
    • Distilleries
  • Everything Else
    • National Designations
    • Firsts, Onlies, Oldests, Largests, Longests, Mosts, Smallests, & Bests
    • Geography
    • Animals, Farms, Gardens, Plants, Trees, Rocks, Waterfalls, & Caves
    • Sports, Thrills, Cruises, Trains, Fairs, Parades, & Events
    • Houses, Communities, Urban Legends, Lighthouses, Libraries, Schools, Businesses, & Theaters
    • Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries
    • Religion, Remembrances, Statuary, & Outdoor Art
    • Cultural, Heritage, & Historic Trails
    • Books, Movies, People, & Stories
  • Non-CT
    • Travel & Vacations
    • World Soccer Stadium Tour
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Top 100 Novels Project
    • Oscar Movies Project
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Family
    • Smith-Magenis Syndrome
    • Press
CTMQ > Non-CT > Travel > New York & New Jersey 2021

New York & New Jersey 2021

September 3, 2021 by Steve 2 Comments

New York & New Jersey 2021
The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Red Bulls Arena, & Bronx Zoo

Back in early 2020, Calvin’s aunt had promised to take him to the Statue of Liberty and his mom promised him the Bronx Zoo, and I promised him an MLS game. None of that happened thanks to the pandemic, so I bundled it all up in one two-day trip in August 2021.

If I may say, I planned it to perfection. We arrived at everything at the perfect time, thank you very much.

Statue of Liberty National Monument & Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration

I’d never been to the Statue of Liberty and oddly, had never even seen it except from afar on Manhattan on occasion. And to be honest, I’d never really been interested to do so. But the boy has been fascinated for a while, so away we went.

I researched the various boats that service the statue, and learned that only one vendor actually drops you off on Liberty Island. And it’s not even that expensive. We left from the New Jersey side and first went to Ellis Island.

The National Immigration Museum is hugely impressive and I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend not going there with a disinterested 10-year-old. Too many words and such for him to handle. But the vast museum tells the story of immigration to America from pre-colonial times up until the Trump era.

Since that’s when it pretty much stopped for a variety of reasons.

We had an hour there and then it was back on the ferry to Lady Liberty. (You can sort out the schedules and plan to stay longer if you wish.) I had purchased the add-on to be able to climb the stairs up to the pedestal. I also highly recommend this. It’s just cool to be up there looking down at all the ding-dongs making their Tik-Tok videos and whatnot. And the views of Manhattan and Ellis Island (and Jersey City) are fantastic.

There’s a museum all about the statue and its creation, but – and this is true – NO ONE was there, despite probably 2,000 people on the island at the time. People man… hopeless.

Calvin really enjoyed the experience and it was nice to see him so happy. It is impressive and provided me a more powerful experience than I’d expected.


New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew, Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ

I wrote about this game here, on Calvin’s World Soccer Stadium Tour.

It’s a great stadium and staying in the Element Hotel across the street was a seamless and pleasant experience.

The Bronx Zoo

The drive from Harrison, NJ to the Bronx Zoo is a video game. Calvin thought it was the greatest thing and that the 84 minor traffic violations necessary to get there were just the coolest. Our visit was under the threat of rain all day, but it never materialized… in the City anyway.

(We had a flash flood in West Hartford.)

This was my first visit to the Bronx Zoo and it’s beyond amazing that this place exists in the Bronx. Such an oasis – for humans and birds, anyway. Birds… this place has a ton of birds. Such a focus on birds.

Calvin loves animals – all animals – and hasn’t yet hit that “zoos are inherently immoral” bridge too far, though it’s coming. I can feel it. He’s been to the Philadelphia, San Diego, and now Bronx Zoos and while the Bronx gets lots of credit, it doesn’t really hold a candle to those other two.

But it’s still a great zoo and we had a good time.

Here are more pictures from the two-day excursion.

Immigration Hall at Ellis Island



Upskirt



Empty Liberty Museum





It’s nice that he can still be a doofy little kid sometimes, part 1


It’s nice that he can still be a doofy little kid sometimes, part 2


It’s nice that he can still be a doofy little kid sometimes, part 3 – this is a dung ball with dung beetle on the insect carousel. Calvin LOVES dung beetles. This was the highlight of the whole trip.



“Yo.”
“Wassup.”
“Wassup.”


CTMQ Vacations

Facebooktwitterreddit

Filed Under: New Post, Non-CT, Travel Tagged With: Calvin, new jersey, New York, Vacations, Zoos

Sponsored Links

Comments

  1. Amanda H says

    September 4, 2021 at 12:57 pm

    ?? Nice. I always love your writing. Thought about Ellis Island/Statue when we were out east this summer, too. Next time!
    Nice sneaky selfie at the carousel, too…

  2. Amanda H says

    September 4, 2021 at 12:58 pm

    Oops. The ?? was a heart. No emojis, apparently. <3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Become a CTMQ Patron!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Press & Media Inquiries

Latest Museum Visits

The heart of CTMQ

Totally Random Post!

Foxon Park Beverages

Sponsored Links

Recent Comments

  • Brenda Rose Iaquessa on RWA: Lake Gaillard
  • ROBERT FINDLEY on SCELBI Computer Virtual Museum
  • Tom N. on 104. Buttolph-Williams House
  • Jamie on Onion Mountain Park
  • Rob on Plainville’s Prickly Pear Cacti
Disclaimer
Mission Statement
Copyright © 2023 - CTMQ