I visited the great city of New York this summer and the experience was beautiful. We stayed at the Watsons hotel, which was in mid-Manhattan. Click to check out the hotel. A lot closer to the upper east side, which meant I could literally take a 10 minutes’ walk to the legendary times square and also get a chance to visit all those stores around. I did take a stroll to the central park one evening and it was beautiful.
Evening walk to Central Park, New York.
Let’s cut to the part where we got to visit Lady Liberty. A day after being in New York, we decided it was imperative to drive downtown to visit the statue of liberty and we did just that. it was a 30 minute drive from the upper side. The driver of taxi we hopped on was so nice and chatty, maybe a little too chatty, but we enjoyed it regardless.
He warned us to beware of the scammers on the streets and boy was he right. They come up to you seeming all legit, with badges and uniforms all spread around. And because there’s a lot of them, you think they are legit. They gave us this whole story of how the pedestal for the ferry was broken, and we needed to get tickets from them, get on a bus which will take us to another place where we can then get on a ferry to liberty island.
My brother with the Statue of Liberty.
It kinda sounded believable, they had a bus with people on already, ready for takeoff. But honey, we are nigerians, you don’t scam Nigerians. I just said to them, that’s too expensive and walked away. They wanted $35 per person and we were 4. After I said that, they man goes, ‘okay, let’s cut a deal, lets take out the youngest, which was my brother. He proceeded to say, he’s a child and we don’t have to pay for him’. That right there was my red flag, I was like nope, and walked away.
On a Ferry headed to Liberty Island, soaking up that vitamin D and replenishing my melanin!
We proceeded in to realize the actual ticket office was way inside and you pay $18.50 per person. A lot happened between then and actually getting on the ferry. I forgot my iPhone in the taxi I got on, and I will not bore you with the details. You can watch my video here because I actually vlogged this entire experience.
On Liberty Island.
We could not get pedestal access or crown access, because apparently, the crown was sold out for the next three months. Yupp a whole three months. I was really disappointed, didn’t want to go anymore. It was at that point my mom said, ‘well you don’t get to see her when you’re inside anyway, let’s go and see her from the outside’ loool that was funny and true. I cheered up and we got the tickets, got on the ferry and went to liberty island. It really was a great experience and I am now so glad I did not pass up on that.
On Ferry, headed back from Liberty Island.
On the island there’s a museum which is actually a new addition to the island. It had all needed details for the statue of Liberty. Form history to construction of the statue and all that good stuff. All the things a museum should have.
Statue of Liberty Museum.
They have a short film about the statue of liberty explaining the reason behind it, the construction process and what it means to the people now. The film is split into 3 parts of which your watch in three different theaters. I thought that was genius, it’s like taking through this journey and you actually get to progress through it. It’s an entire experience. That was amazing, and I got to record it, you can watch it here.
After then we got on the ferry again to go back. Got some dinner on our way back to the hotel. And in the evening went strolling again. The streets are just as memorable and all part of the New York experience.
More of New York streets.
You can watch the full vlog below. Have you ever been to New York? Or do you live there?
Your city is beautiful!
