Statue of Liberty...

...  was on my bucket list: Which explains why I was so delighted and excited to get an invitation to go to NYC. P. had to be in upstate for a work related event, asked if I would meet her so we could go to the Statue and Ellis Island. I've been wanting to go, and ...wow! That was really neat.

The ticket you have to reserve to go up into the top of the statue sells out 'way in advance. Which is ok with me, as I don't think I could have: a) tolerated being in such a close-company, confined space without having a panic attack, b) climbed all those steps inside the steel armature to get to the top, c) been able to look over the edge without loosing my lunch when I got to the peering out place.

You have to have a different ticket to get on the ferry that makes a loop from the end of Manhattan to Liberty Island, then to Ellis Island, and back to the dock at the bottom of Manhattan Island. Then another ticket to actually get into the statue, or a different one to go up to the head/torch area. I was perfectly satisfied with what I had, and not at all sad to not struggle with the climb all those steps to get higher.

The tickets we did have allowed us to go into the pedestal area, where there is a museum. You can also walk out onto a viewing area, that is just below where the feet and base of the statue is located. There in the museum, we found plenty of info. about the history of how it was imagined, conceived, designed, created, built, shipped in sections, put together in the US. As well as the renovation when the original iron armature began to deteriorate, and had to be replaced with steel.

The highest point, which is the arm holding the torch aloft was originally designed to be metal. But at some point, someone suggested/decided to turn the torch into a lighted one made of stained glass that would serve as a light house for ships. When the renovation occurred in the latter part of the 20th century, that was dismantled, removed and refurbished, put on display in the museum, where you see in when you enter the base/pedestal area. Replaced with one closer to the original design, copper with gold covering. That brightly reflects the lighting as it shines up from the well-lit base of the statue.