New York -> New Jersey 13.07

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Kui meie teisel hommikul sööma läksime, olid vahvlimasinad kadunud. 

Siis me seda veel ei teadnud, aga saime viimast korda rakett-liftiga üles ja alla kimada. Eelmisel päeval uurisin järele, kuidas me auto kätte saame. Selleks oli vaja oma soovist ca 30 minutit varem adminnile teada anda, mida tegin pärast süsivesikuterikast hommikusööki. Kas keegi on veel tähele pannud, et reisil olles süüakse hommikuks umbes 3x niipalju, kui tavapäraselt? 

Välja registreerides ootas meie Jeep juba välisukse ees, kuhu ma ta saabudes jätnud olin. Pakkisime oma kolm kohvrit pagassi (Jeepil on see üüratu) ja kulgesime Battery pargi poole, kust kl 10 ootas praam Liberty saarele. 

Sa ei käi New Yorkis Vabadusesammast külastamata😁Parkimismajas nuputasime, kuidas kõige paremini auto asukohta meelde jätta. Tagurdada on jätkuvalt lihtsam kui nina ees parkida. Laz parkimismaja asub Battery pargile mugaval kaugusel, kui kellegi vaja😉  

Meie sealoleku ajal parki renoveeriti aga leidsime õige tee kiiresti üles. Väike tualetipeatus ja Castle Clintoni selfie (proovisin iga päev vähemalt ühe aarde logida, kes teab, see teab. Geopeitus). 

Praami väravas tekkis meie piletitega lugemisega millegipärast probleem aga õnneks oli see ajutine. Ostsin need ametlikult leheküljelt. Hoiatatakse libapiletite müüjate ees nii netis kui kohapeal. Aaa.. ja seekord alahindasin masse. Kui paar kuud varem pileteid ostsin, siis krooni piletid (Vabadusesamba kõige kõrgem vaateplatvorm) oli kuni septembrini välja müüdud. Niipalju, kui aru saanud olen, ega sealt miskit vaadet ei ole aga saaks vähemalt öelda, et käidud.  

Läbisime kohustusliku kottide läbivalgustamisega turvakontrolli, mõtlesime, kas oleks pidanud vihmakeebid kaasa võtma, sest tibutama hakkas. Varsti olime praami pardal ning ca 20-minutiline sõit Vabaduse saareni võis alata. Kui juba seal, siis pildistasime maailmakuulsat rohelist daami iga nurga pealt, nii lähenedes, saarel olles kui lahkudes. 

Vabadussammas ei olnud algupäraselt loomulikult roheline vaid vasetooni, kuid oksüdeerumine on andnud sellele tänapäeval tuttava tooni. Kuju on kingitus Prantsusmaalt ning konstruktsiooni pani kokku Gustave Eiffel. Vabadussammas, kelle inspiratsiooniks on Rooma vabaduse jumalanna, hoiab käes tahvlit numbritega 4.07.1776.  

Eks see ole tänapäeval turistimagnet, kui koroona-aastad välja arvata, külastab saart iga-aastaselt vähemalt 3.5 miljonit inimest. Saarel on kuju, mille platvormi hetkel renoveeritakse ja muuseum. Krooni piletitest jäime ilma aga platvormi treppidel saime ronida. Ja sa ei käi New Yorkis, ilma et sa saarel käiksid. Lihtsalt ei käi.  

Vihma tibutas vahelduva eduga praktiliselt terve saare külastuse ajal. Pildid saime tehtud. Saarele ring peale ja edasi Ellise saarele. 

Kui Vabadussammas on vabaduse sümbol ja märk, mida miljonid immigrandid riiki sisenedes nägid, siis Ellise saarelt sai immigrantide riiki lubamine alguse. Saarel saime uurida ruume, mida immigrandid esimesena nägid ning kust kaudu nende ametlik teekond USAs alguse sai.  

Ellise saar kuulub nii New Yorki kui New Jersey osariiki. Alguses oligi plaan NJ osariik sellega kirja saada aga kuna ma ei uurinud korralikult, siis hooned, milles meie ringi kõndisime, kuuluvad N Yorkile (York... Inglismaa).  

Tagasiteel loomulikult järjekordne pildisessioon. Auto leidmisega probleemi ei olnud ja sõit New Jersey (osariik 2) poole sai alata. Selleks ületasime Hudsoni jõe, läbides 2.6km pikkuse Hollandi tunneli. Jerseysse jõudes tegime toidupoe peatuse ning asusime lõunasöögi jahile. Läänerannikul reisides sai tavaks aja (ja raha) kokkuhoiu mõttes lõuna poest haarata. Ohh.. soe oli. Sooja õhu pahvakas tuli näkku, kui autost väljusime. Lõunaks siis salat ja beebiporgandid. 

Öömaja oli Camdenis (Inglismaaaaa), New Jersey, Best Western Plus Philadelphia-Pennsauken Hotellis. Vahetult enne kohale jõudmist ületasid teed mingid suured linnud. Liiklus seisis. Registreerisime sisse, lift ronis teisele korrusele, lühike värskenduspaus ning liikusime edasi Cherry Hill kaubanduskeskusesse.

Ema otsis uut Guessi kotti ja seal oli Guessi pood. Aga kui keegi arvab, et koti leidmine nii lihtne on, siis mõelge uuesti. Kotil ei tohi olla seda praeguse moe nõmedat käepidet. Käepide ei tohi olla ka metallist kett. Käekott ei tohi olla liiga suur ega liiga väikene. Nõme värv ei tohi olla. Kandiline ei tohi ka olla.

Jersey on siis jälle üks 13-st algupärasest kolooniast. Suurim rahvastikutihedus (487in/km2 vs Eesti 30). 

Õhtusöögiks olin välja valinud kaubanduskeskuse juures oleva toidukoha aga see oli täis ja maabusime vahemereköögi ja Blue Fig Gardenisse. Tuli välja, et meie teenindaja oli pärit Euroopast. Õhtusöögiks šašlõkk ja friikad.

Start spreading the news... When we went for breakfast on our second morning, the waffle machines were gone.

We didn’t know it then, but it was the last time we'd get to whizz up and down in the rocket lift. The day before, I checked how we could retrieve our car. We had to inform the front desk about half an hour in advance, which I did after a carb-loaded breakfast. Has anyone else noticed that you tend to eat about three times as much for breakfast when travelling compared to usual?

When we checked out, our Jeep was already waiting outside the main entrance, right where I had left it when we arrived. We packed our three suitcases into the boot (the Jeep has a massive one) and set off towards Battery Park, where a ferry to Liberty Island was scheduled for 10 am. You can't visit New York without going to the Statue of Liberty😁 The Laz parking garage is conveniently close to Battery Park, just in case anyone needs it😉

The park was undergoing renovations during our visit, but we quickly found the right path. A quick stop at the loo and a selfie at Castle Clinton (I aimed to log at least one cache every day — those who know, know: geocaching). There was a problem scanning our tickets at the ferry gate for some reason, but fortunately, it was only temporary. I bought them from the official website. There are plenty of warnings about fake ticket sellers, both online and on-site. Oh, and this time, I underestimated the crowds. When I bought the tickets a couple of months earlier, the crown tickets (for the highest viewing platform on the Statue of Liberty) were sold out until September. As far as I understand, the view from there isn’t much to write home about, but at least you could say you've been there.

We passed through the obligatory bag screening at the security checkpoint and wondered if we should have brought raincoats because it had started to drizzle. Soon we were aboard the ferry, and the roughly 20-minute journey to Liberty Island began. Once there, we took photos of the world-famous green lady from every angle — while approaching, on the island, and as we were leaving.

Originally, the Statue of Liberty wasn’t green but copper-coloured; oxidation has given it its familiar hue today. The statue was a gift from France, and its framework was assembled by Gustave Eiffel. The Statue of Liberty, inspired by the Roman goddess of freedom, holds a tablet inscribed with the date 4th July 1776.

Nowadays, it’s a tourist magnet; if you exclude the pandemic years, at least 3.5 million people visit the island annually. On the island, there’s the statue, whose platform is currently under renovation, and a museum. We missed out on the crown tickets, but we did get to climb the platform stairs.

The drizzle continued intermittently throughout most of our visit to the island. We took millions of photos, walked around the island, and then headed to Ellis Island. You can board any ferry.

While the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom that millions of immigrants saw as they entered the country, Ellis Island is where the admission of immigrants into the country began. On the island, we explored the rooms that immigrants first saw and through which their official journey in the US started.

Ellis Island belongs to both New York and New Jersey. Initially, we planned to tick off New Jersey with this visit, but as I hadn’t done my research properly, it turns out the buildings we were wandering around in actually belong to New York (York... England). Fortunately, I discovered that soon enough.

On the way back, naturally, we had another photo session. We had no trouble finding the car and set off towards New Jersey (State 2). To get there, we crossed the Hudson River through the 2.6 km-long Holland Tunnel. Upon arriving in Jersey, we made a stop at a supermarket and went on the hunt for lunch. While travelling on the West Coast, we got into the habit of grabbing lunch from a shop to save time (and money). Oh, the warmth! A gust of hot air hit us as we got out of the car. Lunch included a salad and baby carrots.

Our accommodation was in Camden (Englaaaaand), Best Western Plus Philadelphia-Pennsauken Hotel. Just before we arrived, some large birds crossed the road. Traffic came to a standstill. We checked in, the lift climbed to the second floor, we had a short freshen-up, and then we headed to Cherry Hill Mall.

Mum was looking for a new Guess bag, and there was a Guess shop there. But if anyone thinks finding a bag is that simple, think again. The bag mustn't have one of those annoying handles that are currently in fashion. The handle mustn’t be a metal chain, either. The handbag mustn’t be too big or too small. It can’t be a horrible colour. And it definitely shouldn’t be boxy.

For dinner, I had chosen a restaurant at the mall, but it was full, so we ended up at a Mediterranean place, Blue Fig Garden. It turned out our waiter was from Europe. We had an ok barbeque with chips.