New Colossus

Friday, August 12th marked the first time I ever really got to see the Statue of Liberty. Sure I may have had a quick peek from the highway but I've never really seen her. Aboard the Staten Island Ferry (awesome & free) you can get a really good look at her and I think the best time to go is at sunset. It was a magical ride with the near full moon coming up on one side, Manhattan at the stern and Lady Liberty and Ellis Island to our right.

Ellis Island above, Verrazano Narrows bridge below.

An awesome view of NYC.

Loved the sailboats.

An incredible site!

"Where liberty is, there is my country." ~Benjamin Franklin

 I thought this lighthouse was cool but it's just part of the Bayonne Golf Club.

Liberty through the Brooklyn Bridge.

The New Colossus - by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"