Exploring NYC by Bicycle - Lady Liberty & Ellis Island

 Every day should start with a good chewy bagel.

 Our current place of choice: Bagel World.

Take a snapshot of your child, especially when he least expects to be photographed.

I'd purchased tickets online for ferry visits to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island so all we  had to do was bike there. Contrary to what I'd described yesterday about the East side trail near the Battery being in tough condition, it was still the fastest way to get there. Zigzag around construction, pedestrians, and hawker stands, then lift your legs a couple times through puddles (wee!), and voila, we'd arrived at Statue Cruises location. The only unnerving part was locking our bikes - again we were the only attendees arriving on bikes - guided by an employee to an out of the way rack. I tightly wrapped all three locks and hoped for the best!

One World Trade Center has an ethereal quality to it, I presume, which seems fitting, but that
could only be because the building is high and shrouded in the fog.

Again, my backpack full of spare tools and pump set off "alarms" at security and I dumped the contents, explaining how we traveled. They eventually let us through and we boarded with the crowds.

Part of Manhattan's skyline.

 Some of my best photos of Lady Liberty were captured aboard the boat.

 And as the boat circled the island...

 ...I got a feel for how her presence is a symbol of protecting the city.

Our Google Maps timeline for the day. 

My son and I breezed through Ellis Island exhibits - our heart wasn't in more indoor museums, especially of the reading placards on photographs, or listening to audio phones placed in rooms. After the amazing multi-media presentations at the 9/11 Memorial, Ellis Island felt like a letdown.

My son was in a funk when disembarking at Battery Park (and yes, the bikes were fine) so we took a break at Starbucks. I secretly hoped he gained some energy, but it was not to be, and truthfully we couldn't come up with another intriguing place to visit so we headed back to Brooklyn.

I tacked on a couple miles at the end of the day, replacing a lightweight fleece that I'd left behind at Starbucks, plus gathering a few groceries for dinner while my son was happy to veg out with music and online socializing. Funny how that is: the younger ones need to recharge while the elders like to make the most of a vacation.