A white-knuckle driving experience into Jersey City.  Who would believe there is an RV campground within sight of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty?  It is basically a parking lot with RVs sandwiched in everywhere at $100 a night with water and electric hookups.  There is even some tent camping available on artificial turf.

We spend time in Jersey City taking photos of the Manhattan skyline and manage to figure out the subway system again. As this is our second visit to NYC, we do different things this time around that we missed the first trip.  We head to Brooklyn and visit Coney Island and Brighton Beach.  The amusement rides are all decorated for Halloween and we enjoy a Coney Island hot dog and clam po’boy (huge, messy, but good).

In Manhattan, we walk along the High Line – a linear park high above the street near Chelsea Market.  It could use a good weeding, but it is very popular.  We watch the parking attendants jockey cars in an elevated parking garage 4 cars high.  The cars only move up and down, so it is like a slide puzzle trying to get cars out that are on the third and fourth levels.

We visit the World Trade Center, a massive white marble building housing subways, trains, and lots of shopping.  Outside here is the 9/11 Memorial – a thought-provoking memorial comprised of two reflecting pools with water spilling into their centers into a very deep hole that visitors cannot see the bottom of.  The names of the victims are engraved along the edges of the two pools.

We also visit the Statue of Liberty island for a walk around as we do not have tickets to go up in the statue.  Ellis Island has lots to see – one can spend an entire day here and at the Statue.  We visit the vast immigration hall where 12 million immigrants passed through.  These were 3rd class passengers only.  As they climbed the stairs, doctors watched and triaged people for further review.  A chalk symbol was marked on the shoulder if one limped, seemed mentally unfit, sick, injured, etc.  Only 2% of immigrants arriving to Ellis Island ended up deported back from where they boarded the ships.  We enjoy the audio tour here and learn a lot about immigration to the USA.

We spend most of one day at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.  We tour the aircraft carrier Intrepid, seeing lots of aircraft, including a Concorde jet, on the deck and in the hangar.  The US Growler submarine was toured – very tight narrow passageways with hot bunking in the narrow sleep quarters.  The Enterprise space shuttle is on display above our heads.  It went into orbit many times but did not go into space, essentially being a prototype for future shuttles.

We take a quick look at Times Square again, having visited and stayed in a hotel here the last visit.  It is the same crazy, loud, neon extravaganza we remember.  We had a great time in New York City.