Mondays! Garfield hates them, but I love them when they are full of friends and adventure! Todays friends: Brigham, Matt, and Naomi from Australia. Todays adventure: The Conquest of Ellis Isle!
But before our sea trip, we paid a visit to the Wall Street Bull on Broadway. There are inappropriate and appropriate ways to pose with the Wall Street Bull. Here Naomi demonstrates an appropriate bull-pose.
And now here some young ladies (if I can even call them that considering their behavior) demonstrate very inappropriate Wall Street Bull-poses.
Inappropriate Bull-poses get the big thumbs down! (a stamp of disapproval that I don't just give out willy-nilly)
Matt has his own issues with the Wall Street Bull.
Let's see that one again, but with motion:
So then we pass through Battery Park...
And on to Castle Clinton where you buy your tickets for the boats and find out that if you get there at 1 in the afternoon it's going to be too late to see both Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Forced to choose between the giant statue and lessons, we choose lessons.
Then it's boat ride and statue-photographing time.
I took this guy's picture because I thought he was Matt, I don't know, my brain turned off for a second. And this girl is giving me the look I deserve for my mistake.
Naomi demonstrates perfect snapshooting form. This isn't a posed picture, this is how she takes pictures.
Don't laugh at my patriotism.
At Liberty Island our ship was boarded by an army of America-admirers.
Matt befriended some of them...
And I took this picture over his shoulder as he photographed his new friends.
Matt explained something on the boat.
And then there we were, at Ellis Island!
The problem with this blog is that I'm always exaggerating or being sarcastic or just making jokes BUT I want you to know that really I really did like Ellis Island a lot. I loved looking at the pictures and reading the signs and thinking about the immigrant experience (and The Godfather) and sometimes I even got kind of introspective and American. Please believe me.
Teddy Roosevelt is the true friend of Italians.
And I liked listening to immigrants telling stories on the telephone.
And this picture was definitely definitely my absolute favorite picture in the whole island. Look at these immigrants, their wine, their guns, their mustaches (and the one without a mustache who is being comforted by his more masculine amigos).
Something else I liked? The sheet music collection. Some of it was so ignorant and intolerant. Shame on you, American songwriters.
And speaking of intolerance...
Inflate this photo for an education on the tightening of US immigration restrictions. It leaves one wondering what the technical difference between a lunatic or idiot and an imbecile is.
We hung tight in the upstairs of Ellis Island until the security guards forced us out and it was only then that we discovered the room of charts and graphs on the first floor. Crud. Probably could have spent a lot of time with those charts and graphs.
What is America made of? I'm glad you asked...
Then it was out to the dock with us to board the last boat back to Manhattan.
Just cuz you've been to an island doesn't mean you should stop taking pictures of it.
Since we landed in Battery Park and Ellie lives in Battery Park City I thought "Hey, better call Ellie!" so I called Ellie and she met up with us on the bridge by her house.
We walked over to Ground Zero so that the visitors could see it and look at it and think about it and ask how tall the World Trade Center was. Ellie, why don't you take that one?
And since we were way down in the Financial District and Jeff works way down in the Financial District I thought "Hey, better call Jeff!" so I called Jeff and he met up with us in front of the Brooks Brothers.
Then we: went to the shoe store, used the bathroom in the hotel, ate spaghetti, and went to a jazz show. Pictures of those? Nope. None.
Dudes, we are getting so close to being all caught up. And yes, I had my Babbo last night and it was a victory for happiness.
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