Ferrets and another update

The last time I talked to Eli, he asked me how the ferrets were doing. So I thought I'd post a few pictures of them for him. Overall, I think the ferrets are doing okay, although they are all getting old and will need a vet check-up once we move.

In other news, our new apartment isn't quite ready yet, so we've pushed our moving date back to the end of the month. This is a little akward, since many things we use fairly regularly are already packed up, but it is otherwise not a huge change. We do have a moving truck reserved and several other moving details arranged. My job with the census officially ended today. This last week has been quite busy at work, so it is kind of a relief to be finished. There are some things about it that I will miss though. It felt good to be working at a job and getting paid, not so much for the money itself but because it was an outside acknowledgement of a job well done. But it was by definition a temporary job, so it wasn't an unexpected end.

August recap

Sorry we have been such infrequent posters here the past couple weeks. Brian and I have been preparing for our upcoming move. We will be heading for Columbus, Ohio very soon. We have a place to move all picked out and my job with the census is almost finished. Many boxes have already been packed, and there have been a lot of potential renters coming through our apartment recently.

Since it has been a while, here are a few of the things we have been up to:

My friend Amanda came to NYC with her husband and a couple friends. We met up in Central Park. It was really great to see her again (it has been a while). You can see more pics on facebook or at her blog (see the sidebar).

My birthday was earlier this month, and Brian got me this delicious icecream cake. It was really rich so it took a while for us to eat it, but we enjoyed every slice.

We also went to Philadelphia to have dinner with some friends. Kimberly (second to the left) was visiting from Canada, which was a good excuse to get together for some food and conversation.

Me and Brian at the same dinner:

My friend Smiti visited NYC last week, so we took a trip on the Staten Island ferry together. It was a really humid day, so it was great to get out on the bay and catch the breeze. I know it is hard to tell, but the tiny tower behind us is the statue of liberty.

Another shot from the ferry trip:

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

On the Wednesday of my parents' visit, we spent most of the day visiting Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. They were both very interesting to see, but the lines and airport-style security was a little intense. The lines to get on the ferries reminded me of Disney.


The entryway to the initial ferry was preceeded by a security check. This took place in an old train station, which was used by those arriving from Ellis Island to disperse all over the US. There was a small concession area, but it was mostly empty.
Here is the train station's exterior. It is actually a very nice station and famous for its part in history, but we were eager to get to the ferry and see the larger sights (at least, I was).

Here we are waiting in line. I think I am the only one looking at the camera, but we don't have any other pics of us in line, so this is the one I'm posting. :) The hats were a good plan because it was quite sunny.

Yay! Now we are on the ferry! We look so hot because we had been standing out in the sun for a while, waiting our turn. It was great to get out of the sun and onto the boat.

On Ellis Island, there were many really interesting displays. This one shows English words borrowed from other languages as well as the word source. It highlights the diversity of American culture and the benefits we have received from being a nation of immigrants.

Another cool Ellis Island display:

Here is the great hall at Ellis Island where incoming immigrants would line up to be checked in. We learned a lot about this process from some of the displays.

Here we are back in line! After we saw the Ellis Island hall, it was time to head for the statue. For this, we needed to once again wait in line for the ferry. Mom, it looks like you needed a hat. The building behind us is the hospital where sick immigrants would be kept (and would either recover and be allowed in or not recover and be shipped back). The hospital is not part of the tour.

On the ferry, there were lots of great views, and Dad and I took lots of pictures. Here is one great sailboat heading south. Lower Manhattan is to the left and Brooklyn is over the bridges to the right.

The Statue of Liberty was quite impressive, but I didn't know that so much of it's height is due to the platform it is on and not the statue itself. Still, it was pretty exciting going past the front on the ferry as we approached.

We had tickets that allowed us to climb to the balcony right below where the actual statue starts (platform tickets). It was a bit of a climb, but not too bad. The views were great from up there (including the statue shadow), but the area was very small and crowded.

Brian took this picture of me on the balcony. It was difficult to get enough distance between us (small space), so I am trying to lean backwards. In the background, Jersey City is to the left and Manhattan is to the right.

Statue of Liberty interior structure:

I have dozens of pictures of this statue (Brian suggests that I was a little excessive in my picture-taking). I enjoyed taking pictures of it though, and the clouds were so great. The sky was always changing! This shot is from on the island.

From the Statue of Liberty island, we had a pretty good view of the areas surrounding the bay. In this picture you can see Ellis Island (buildings with red roofs on the left) with Jersey City in the background. On the right, Lower Manhattan is in the foreground and areas of Manhattan further north can be seen behind the ferries as the Hudson River curves gently to the left.

Brian with Manhattan (cute haircut):

Me with Staten Island and then the opean ocean (the wind was picking up, so I had to watch my hat):

Here is one last shot of Ellis Island and Jersey City (with a sea bird).

Lower Manhattan

When my parents were here visiting, we spent one sunny afternoon walking around Lower Manhattan (downtown, if you are taking the subway). We took a ferry to the eastern edge (by the South Street Seaport) and walked west to the World Trade Center site. We passed through the main financial center for NYC on this walk.

Me and my mom, wandering down Wall Street:
The seaport pier on the eastern side of Manhattan:

Mom and Dad in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. Dad was keen on seeing the bridge, so we went to this upper level balcony outside the pier shopping center to take a good look.

Me and Dad with the Brooklyn Bridge:

The streets seem narrower when the buildings are so tall. Here is a typical downtown street (although this one is closed off to traffic). Trinity Church is the small building in the center of the picture. Trinity Church was established in Manhattan very early on (long before the USA became a nation).

Here are my parents checking out the local architecture. They seemed especially interested in examining buildings in the art decco style. The building in the background is the famous Tiffanys.

Same building shot upwards so you can see the whole building.

This is the place where George Washington was sworn in as president.

Here are my parents in front of the Federal Reserve. I took it because they are standing directly underneath a "No Standing Anytime" sign. Ha!

World Trade Center site

The WTC is still a huge hole in the middle of lower Manhattan. The PATH and subway station underneath it is functional, but the building/memorial that is being built at the site is still not really taking shape. Still, we wanted to visit the area. We ended up at St. Paul's chapel, which is one block directly east of the WTC site. It was used in the months after the disaster as a place for rest and food for all the volunteers working to save survivors and later clear debris. It is also quite a historic chapel, frequently visited by George Washington.
The front of the chapel:

Here is the chapel interior. It is still a major WTC memorial site. They maintain many displays about the 9-11 aftermath.

Responders came from all across the country to help out. This display shows the badges of some of the volunteers.

The chapel's interior:

Just across the street is the giant hole where the twin towers used to be.

The churchyard was filled with graves and mature trees, which offered shade from the brutal sun. The blue signs you can see through the fence block the public's view of the WTC site construction.

Brian and me in front of the WTC PATH station.

Grant's Tomb

Since is is located right next to Riverside church, we stopped in to Grant's Tomb, which is a National Parks Service site. Although a tomb for a war general, the quote above the door reads "Let us have peace."
Here is Dad's more artistic picture of the building. I like it a lot.

The inside of this building is quite beautiful as well.

In the middle in a lower chamber you can see the tombs of General Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia Grant.

There are also several informative displays about the Civil War battles and life during the Civil War. I think the NPS has done a pretty good job with the site.

Downtown Jersey City

On Tuesday, my parents and I spent a little time in downtown Jersey City. I had to attend a short meeting for work there and I wanted to show them our downtown, so we went on Tuesday morning. Jersey City is a great place to view the NYC skyline. The first time I went, I was surprised how close NYC really is to Jersey. Jersey City is across from lower Manhattan, so it is an impressive view. There are several ferries that go from JC downtown to various points in lower Manhattan. We ended up taking one of these ferries to Pier 11 in NYC after lunch.

My parents waiting for the ferry in JC with NYC in the background:
We started off at Exchange Place, which is a major transportation hub downtown. We took the PATH train, but the light rail, buses, and ferries also have stations at Exchange Place. There is also a very nice public pier with benches and shaded areas. It is a popular lunch spot for downtown workers. Here is one of the many ferries we saw while taking in the view:

A view of lower Manhattan (north is to the left). The white tent at the water's edge to the left of the picture is the ferry station Brian and I were standing at when we took the pictures of downtown Jersey City that we posted last week.

We saw some sea birds (since we are quite close to the sea), including this fellow. He ignored us and seemed to be searching the river water for fish.

We found a few signs with historical information about the coast long ago. Look--windmills!

This picture, taken from the pier again, shows the tallest building in New Jersey. The ferry station is in front of that building.

Mom and I looking at NYC from the pier at Jersey City:

It was a nice place to relax.

There was a 9-11 memorial at the river's edge, showing the skyline (as it appears from Jersey City) with the twin towers. It was interesting to look at the depiction with the towers and then look at the reality to see where they used to be. It was difficult to get a clear picture of both the memorial and the skyline, but you can see the skyline shot (above the sea bird) for comparison.

Also part of this memorial was this twisted metal beam from the WTC site. It was covered with memorial letters, pictures, ribbons, flowers, and flags.