We boarded the ferry at the southern tip of Manhattan near Battery Park (an old fortress). It continually rotates between here, Liberty Island, and Ellis Island throughout the day. You can jump on and off at any time leaving you to spend as much time as you like at each site.
Approaching – Liberty Island (L) & Ellis Island (R):
We landed at Liberty Island and grabbed the player for the audio tour. This led you through a display/museum in the pedestal underneath the statue – very interesting indeed. The foyer contains the original torch – restoration wasn’t possible so they replaced it:
The statue is essentially constructed like a modern steel-frame building (revolutionary for its time) with a thin copper shell – hence its green colour. The face and foot below are examples of how they were cast – not exposed to the air they retain their original colour.
A model of the internals:
Once we’d finished in the museum, we started to pay the price for the super-sized portions we’d been eating since we arrived in the US – we faced 377 steps to get to the crown – 146 of which were in an extremely tight spiral within the statue itself. It seemed like 10,000.
We stopped at the top of the pedestal to grab some photos – but OMFG – it was cold. This is the time when you realise you should have bought fingerless gloves as smart-phones don’t work with regular gloves. By the time I had finished taking photos my hands were stinging. However, the views were worth it. Looking north to Manhattan (R) and Ellise Is. (L):
The staircase up the statue is actually a double-spiral staircase that allows a continuous flow of visitors up and down without having to pass. Even without this it was a little claustrophobic for some – barely wide enough for my girth.
We got to the top, noting the internal impression of the beaten copper skin of the statue. From the inside, it didn’t look that big. Inside the head showing the hair (it’s been painted here):
The inside profile of her face:
Brooklyn:
We then headed to the outer-most reaches of the island to take some more photos of Lady Liberty. 
Hmmm, perhaps an updated sign might be in order:
Ellis Island was the landing point for ships with 12 million arriving immigrants and was in use from 1892 to 1954. It has since (not sure when) turned into a museum. When hurricane Sandy (2012) went through the place suffered quite a bit of damage. As a result, there was still a fair number of artefacts missing from the exhibit as it is still undergoing repairs. Nonetheless, it was still a memorable visit.
It doesn’t really “celebrate” the birth of a nation, etc., but rather makes the visitor aware of the hardship faced by immigrants. They were subject to some fairly in-humane treatment from medicals to isolation. It reminded me of present-day asylum seekers trying to land in Australia.
