Lunch at Ellis Island With My Best Friend

By David
Kaye

When the sun is shinning and the temperature is in the upper seventies there is nothing better to do than take a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, especially when it is with your best friend.

After taking off from Battery Park in Manhattan, the Circle Line ferry made a stop at the symbol of freedom in our country, lady liberty. I was fascinated as we approached the statue to see it up close in person because I never knew how enormous and breath taking it was.

Unfortunately, when we left the Statue of Liberty the wait for the next ferry to Ellis Island was at least twenty minutes. The one thing I despise when going to a tourist attraction is the extensive lines, but that needs to be expected right before Memorial Day weekend. Next time, I will plan accordingly and bring something to nosh on in between meals.

Even though Ellis Island was very beautiful and it made me think how fortunate I am to have had ancestors who were brave enough to withstand the despicable treatment they encountered by immigration officials when they entered America, I was disappointed at how expensive the prices were at the food court.

To think that a salad consisting of iceburg lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, shredded carrots and lite ranch dressing must have cost 5 to 10 cents at the most in the early 1900's, and is now $4.95, seriously makes me think how ridiculous these food joints are.

While the salad was tasty and provided the necessary fulfillment to wait another four hours for dinner, I began to reconsider how consumers such as myself need to appropriate their money when eating out at establishments that don't care about the quality of their food.

Notes: Ferry ride cost $11.50[round trip] to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island