The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Our initial flight to London had a layover in NYC. So we decided to extend our layover to a day and a half and see the Big Apple. We walked around Times Square, ate some very expensive Krispy Kreme donuts and then took the subway to Battery Park, where we purchased tickets for the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We were able to teach our children about how France gave the USA the Statue of Liberty to commemorate 100 years of freedom after the Revolutionary War. We contemplated what our ancestors and so many others thought as they were coming to America to seek freedom of religion, and a better way of life. We then boarded the ferry again for a short ride to Ellis Island. I was able to teach our children about my great grandmother, Ludivika, who as an 8 year old Danish immigrant, speaking only Danish, spent two weeks without her parents on Ellis Island. She was deemed sick and couldn’t enter NY until she was healthy. (How scary would that be?)

We visited the Ground Zero 911 Memorial and reflected on that tragic day and how the nation rallied together and looked to God after that event. The water falls where the twin towers once stood were awe inspiring and felt almost holy. We ended our night eating yummy falafel from a street cart in Times Square.

Manhattan Temple

First thing in the morning, we were able to book baptism appointments for later that morning. We then hustled over to the temple. What wonderful Senior Missionaries they have there. I learned you can volunteer at the NYC Manhattan temple for 12-23 months. The senior missionaries live in apartments next to the temple. Apparently the church owns that block and a 36 story apartment complex, which they rent to anyone, but hold a few back for missionaries.

Central Park

Our little kids love running and climbing the bedrock mounds found in Central Park. We also rented bikes for an hour and rode them around a path in Central Park. I loved this! We spent about an hour playing two rounds of our version of hide and seek. Brooklyn hid first and two teams tried to find her. Then we switched and let Zeke hide. Luke is our mastermind behind our videos. You can watch his video at: https://youtu.be/HxfiECFGXIw

The Logistics Of It All…

When we arrived at JFK airport, we had checked 6 bags and had about 6 carry-ons and each person had a personal item (backpack). We felt like we were loaded down with luggage. We could have taken the subway into Manhattan where our hotel was for far cheaper, but we had way too much luggage and it was past midnight. Justin walked outside by the baggage claim, and met a really nice private driver who had a large vehicle. We were able to hire him to take us and our luggage to our hotel for $120. Our other choice was to hire two smaller Ubers ahead of time which would have cost us around $160 for a ride to our hotel. We were glad for our choice and this same man, Angel (from Ecuador), drove us back to the airport when we were ready to leave.