Blog•
on January 18th, 2010•
National landmarks that are right in my own backyard, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I had never visited these great landmarks before, but got the chance to climb to the crown of Lady Liberty and wander the halls of Ellis Island.
Reservations for this tour were made in June for a September tour, so I was excited about this trip for a while. With this being my first time visiting the Statue of Liberty I was very happy that we booked the crown tour, since it helped us skip all of the long security lines and allowed us to of course go where the average visitor is not allowed to go. I highly recommend the crown tour, so that you can actually go inside the statue, not just walk around the inside of the pedestal.
We had the most perfect day that could be asked for, resulting in very beautiful photos. Many of the guides that were throughout both islands had so much knowledge of the place, both current and historical information.
On our way back to New Jersey we decided to stop at Ellis Island, the buildings have been beautifully restored and kept up nicely. There was a lot that I was expecting to learn about my family while there, however that wasn’t the case. I could find out the same information about them coming here online. So there is no need to take a trip there just to find out family information. Though much of the information I learned was about the actual island, how it expanded to accommodate the influx of immigrants of the time. I found much of the history to be as interesting as much as the people who passed through there.
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are definitely two historic sites that any person should see in their lifetime. This is a national park that certainly will not disappoint, guaranteed.
Blog•
on January 11th, 2010•
This past summer I did more traveling than I usually do, which was a great change. I love going to new places that I haven’t been and to see new things in a different light. A place that I have heard has been really pleasant to visit and photograph was Baltimore, Maryland. They have an amazing National Aquarium (of which we spent 4 hours easily there, especially because of the Jellies Exhibit) and entertaining Inner Harbor with so much so walk around. Inner Harbor has a Science Museum, two shopping pavilions and the Aquarium, with many other things that revolve around the harbor aspect.
My favorite thing to there was tour the Aquarium, but the next closest was Fort McHenry, where we saw reenactments because of the July 4th weekend. The USS Constellation (and other ships/submarine) tours were certainly something I never experienced before. Spending 3 days there was certainly not enough time to see all the great things in Baltimore, but does make for a nice long weekend getaway with new sites to be enjoyed away from home.
Blog•
on January 4th, 2010•
Over this past summer I attended three Renaissance Fairs, one in New Jersey and two in New York. The New Jersey Renaissance Fair was a traveling Fair, which came to New Jersey once a year for 3 days. The Renaissance Fair in New York was a summer long event at a permanent venue in Tuxedo, NY, which was even more impressive.
I had never attended a Renaissance Fair before and was very surprised with how elaborate it was at the New York one, everyone working there was really into the whole theme, speaking in Old English and many vendors with Medieval specific items you couldn’t find in regular stores. All of the clothing at times was very elaborate and beautiful.
The jousting competition yielded some good photographs and great entertainment. The New Jersey Renaissance Fair had a big 3-day storyline behind it, so many photographs were from the final battle reenactment. I highly recommended attending a Renaissance Fair once the weather changes, it is like being in another type of world without having to go back in time.
