Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty field trip 11-06-09
This morning when I had to wake up two hours earlier than usual, I debated whether or not it was worth it. Well, it was. Our trip to Ellis Island and to the Statue of Liberty was one of the best school field trips I've attended.
After picking up one of my best friends, Katherine, we headed off to school. Three Coach buses were parked outside of the main entrance, and people in our grade were arriving from everywhere. There was so much talking that I could barely hear myself think.
We went our separate ways, and headed to find our chaperones. After waiting around inside for about 15 minutes, there was an announcement over the loud speaker for everyone to calmly walk to the buses.
I ended up sitting with my friend Jenny; surrounded by a bunch of my other friends. I decided to bring my mom's IPod(my old one) to listen to, seeing as I cannot go for very long without some music playing in my ears.
The buses set out, and began driving to New Jersey. It took about two hours, but we finally were in what I believe was Jersey City. Being the moron that I can be at times, I thought we were in New York City. There was moderate traffic, which put us a little bit off of our time schedule.
After about another 20 or so minutes, I could see the torch in Lady Liberty's hand. We were nearly there. The buses dropped us off at a believe Ellis Island State Park, in New Jersey. The next step was going through security so that we could get onto the ferry to head to Ellis Island.
Actually, the security was much like the security you'd find in an airport. I chose a bad day to wear jeans that required a belt, and literally had to walk around holding my jeans up. It also didn't help that I had to carry my bag and put my phone and IPod into it, which was rather difficult. Luckily when I walked through the actual security thing, I didn't have to remove my shoes. My coat, however, had to come off. It was freezing even though we were inside.
Once everyone had been checked, we started to board the ferry. Jenny insisted that we stood outside on the top deck. I decided that we'd just go up there, I guess; it couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong. About 2 minutes after it started moving, some kid ran into me and nearly caused me to fall over the railing and into the water. Luckily, I regained my balance and stayed onboard.
The ferry ride lasted for an estimated 10 minutes, before we arrived on Ellis Island. It was actually a lot smaller than I thought it was, truthfully. I caught up with my friends Irene and Gina, and we went through the museum together. It was actually pretty fun, honestly. There were a ton of cool things inside the glass cases, but things were pretty spaced out so we got some exercise.
Shortly after, it was time for lunch. There were a ton of pigeons everywhere, so Irene and I wandered off while Gina was eating. Neither of us were really hungry; just tired. The two of us went inside to the cafe, beyond happy that they had Starbucks coffee on the menu. After we both got it, we drank it outside. Both of us were so tired that if it were a little quieter and we had something to lean against, we'd both be asleep.
Our next stop was to board the ferry again, and head over to the Statue of Liberty. This time, I was sitting with Irene and Jenny on the lower deck. It was way too quiet; so Irene and I began singing the song 'My Band' by D12. Nobody said anything, which was probably a blessing.
Ellis Island was a little more interesting than the Statue of Liberty. We stayed on Liberty Island for about a half an hour, before getting onto a ferry for the final time. This time, Irene and I ended up on an even lower deck than we were on the two previous times. As if by luck, there were two seats open down there. We gladly took them, and stayed there for the entire ride.
We re-docked back in New Jersey, and quickly got back onto our buses. The bus ride home was fairly good; and just a few minutes longer than the trip up. All in all, it was a great trip.
After picking up one of my best friends, Katherine, we headed off to school. Three Coach buses were parked outside of the main entrance, and people in our grade were arriving from everywhere. There was so much talking that I could barely hear myself think.
We went our separate ways, and headed to find our chaperones. After waiting around inside for about 15 minutes, there was an announcement over the loud speaker for everyone to calmly walk to the buses.
I ended up sitting with my friend Jenny; surrounded by a bunch of my other friends. I decided to bring my mom's IPod(my old one) to listen to, seeing as I cannot go for very long without some music playing in my ears.
The buses set out, and began driving to New Jersey. It took about two hours, but we finally were in what I believe was Jersey City. Being the moron that I can be at times, I thought we were in New York City. There was moderate traffic, which put us a little bit off of our time schedule.
After about another 20 or so minutes, I could see the torch in Lady Liberty's hand. We were nearly there. The buses dropped us off at a believe Ellis Island State Park, in New Jersey. The next step was going through security so that we could get onto the ferry to head to Ellis Island.
Actually, the security was much like the security you'd find in an airport. I chose a bad day to wear jeans that required a belt, and literally had to walk around holding my jeans up. It also didn't help that I had to carry my bag and put my phone and IPod into it, which was rather difficult. Luckily when I walked through the actual security thing, I didn't have to remove my shoes. My coat, however, had to come off. It was freezing even though we were inside.
Once everyone had been checked, we started to board the ferry. Jenny insisted that we stood outside on the top deck. I decided that we'd just go up there, I guess; it couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong. About 2 minutes after it started moving, some kid ran into me and nearly caused me to fall over the railing and into the water. Luckily, I regained my balance and stayed onboard.
The ferry ride lasted for an estimated 10 minutes, before we arrived on Ellis Island. It was actually a lot smaller than I thought it was, truthfully. I caught up with my friends Irene and Gina, and we went through the museum together. It was actually pretty fun, honestly. There were a ton of cool things inside the glass cases, but things were pretty spaced out so we got some exercise.
Shortly after, it was time for lunch. There were a ton of pigeons everywhere, so Irene and I wandered off while Gina was eating. Neither of us were really hungry; just tired. The two of us went inside to the cafe, beyond happy that they had Starbucks coffee on the menu. After we both got it, we drank it outside. Both of us were so tired that if it were a little quieter and we had something to lean against, we'd both be asleep.
Our next stop was to board the ferry again, and head over to the Statue of Liberty. This time, I was sitting with Irene and Jenny on the lower deck. It was way too quiet; so Irene and I began singing the song 'My Band' by D12. Nobody said anything, which was probably a blessing.
Ellis Island was a little more interesting than the Statue of Liberty. We stayed on Liberty Island for about a half an hour, before getting onto a ferry for the final time. This time, Irene and I ended up on an even lower deck than we were on the two previous times. As if by luck, there were two seats open down there. We gladly took them, and stayed there for the entire ride.
We re-docked back in New Jersey, and quickly got back onto our buses. The bus ride home was fairly good; and just a few minutes longer than the trip up. All in all, it was a great trip.
Posted on November 7th, 2009 at 08:01am
