For the day after the Regional, I had planned some morning lighthousing on Long Island and Staten Island before heading home. We went to Old Field Point early in the morning and then to Eaton's Neck (I won't bore you with more pictures of them, Bryan already posted some somewhere else), and I was about to start driving toward Coney Island and Staten Island when Donna said, "Let's go to Manhatten. I want a good deli sandwich."

Well, I'm not a spontaneous kind of guy, and I like to plan my trips to every last left turn, so my initial reaction was, "I don't know where I'm going. I've never been there. I didn't plan to go there." Kris then said, "Let's go to the Statue of Liberty." I repeated my excuses. The next thing I knew, I was in a 7-11 buying a map of NYC and asking directions on the best way to go to the Statue of Liberty.

Well, we found our way to the Brooklyn Bridge, and down Broadway to Battery Park. We found an underground parking garage, the kind that doesn't show you a price until you have committed. After a nice walk through the park, we came upon the ferries. They leave every half hour and it was 20 minutes to one. We got our tickets, visited the rest rooms, and went though the long line for security (I had to take off my belt!?! And the sign said no knives, even tools. They let me keep mine. I feel so secure.) We made the 1:00 ferry with about 30 seconds to spare, and was it ever worth it!









It was an experience of a lifetime. Our first time to NYC, we found our own way in, found a nice deli, paid $34 to park for 3 1/2 hours, and got out alive (it took an hour to get out, but we made it). I think we'll go back again, but I'm going to plan it next time!