A New York kind of day

Today NYC put on another fabulous day for us... perfect weather; warm but not too humid, sunny but not blinding.

Today we went to see the Statue of Liberty. Since Haylee has become our unofficial tour guide (seriously, she was pointing things out from her maps and guide book today like a champ!) she navigated the subway for us and we went to the Staten Island ferry subway station. Once we arrived, we started climbing the stairs to the dock entrance, only to be recognised as tourists by some man and reminded that we wanted the Liberty Island ferry dock, not the Staten Island one! Hahaha... such tourists we are. We ended up following a tour group of elderly citizens since their tour guide seemed to know the way!

It was a bit windy given that it was still the morning, so I bought one of those "I (Heart) NY" sweatshirts! We waited in the (long) line to go through the security check and then waited again in another, longer line to actually get on board the ferry.

While we were waiting I noticed there were lots of planes and helicopters in the air above us and they kept circling. I didn't think anything of it until the lady in front of us starting saying "I don't like that. I don't like that at all." Then I realised practically everyone was looking up at the sky, confused and worried expressions on their faces. Their was one big 747 flying VERY low, followed by 1 or 2 smaller fighter jets and about 3 helicopters all circling around the Statue. Immediately, it was like everyone thought "terrorist attack" simulataneously. I was starting to freak out, but said it was probably just tourists or something, taking helicopter tours to see the statue. The police and security guards nearby didn't seem worried, so I tried not to worry either but I couldn't shake the anxious feeling the whole time we were there.

Once we got to the island I relaxed a little bit but was still on alert, jumping at loud noises and that sort of thing. Being on the island makes you feel very vulnerable, because once you're on, there's only the ferry to get you off, and there were a lot of people and the ferries only came every half hour. I did enjoy seeing the Statue and took lots of photos and read all about its history. But I will admit I was glad when we left and got back to the relative safety of Manhattan. I kept thinking it would really be a "suitable" place to attack because it is vulnerable, being and island, it is frequently populated by tourists and it symbolises the values that America considers vitally important - liberty and freedom.

Tonight when we got home we were flicking through the channels when we realised along with Swine Flu, one of the top news stories was this mysterious low flying 747. It turns out the Defense Department had organised a photo op without telling the Mayor or the public. The news reports that everyone, the Mayor included, is furious. People in New Jersey were filmed fleeing from their apartment blocks and buildings; "running for their lives", scared another 9/11 was occurring. Apparently the police knew but because it came from the Defense Dept, they weren't allowed to tell anyone, especially the public.

We had a good rest of the day, spent shopping, sightseeing in Wall St and the financial district and going on our Hop on Hop off tour again, doing the full loop this time to see all of Manhattan. Tomorrow is our last full day here in NYC, we're spending it having brunch in Central Park and then seeing West Side Story on Broadway.

We only get 20 minutes complimentary free internet access here at the hotel each day, so I better get going...