Statue of Liberty

Bad mustache day with me and my sister at the top of the pedestal on the Statue of Liberty

Before we left I went to purchase tickets for the pedestal and the only ones available were from the New Jersey side.  It took a little figuring out, but after two train rides and a mile walk, we eventually found our way to the ferry.  The pavement was hot and I would walk onto the grass every once in a while to give me feet a break.

We picked up our tickets and boarded the ferry without any problems.  At the gift shop you are required to store your packs, purses and bags before going into the monument.  So we purchased a thumb activated locker and stored my pack along with my sandals.  We enter the security line and as I'm putting my belt and phone into the plastic container the federal security agent asked me if I had any shoes.  I said no.  He looked a little surprised and said okay.  I thought about my answer afterwards.  I did not have any shoes, but I did have sandals back in the locker.  My sister said I gave the correct answer and she was entertained by his reaction.

We checked out the views from the pedestal and got a much better perspective on how large the lady is.  The walk in the hot sun had wiped out my sister and niece, and my daughter wasn't interested in looking at the museum, so we headed back to New York City.  Arriving in Battery Park we walked past the Charging Bull near Wall Street and went to China Town for supper.  On the way I discovered that the black stone is hotter then black asphalt and there is a lot of black stone in downtown Manhattan. I moved ahead a few times to find a shady spot or a lighter shade of pavement.  I had not issue eating at 69 Bayard.  The food was good and the walls had dollar and foreign bills tacked on them with messages or sayings.  

So far I was very pleased.  This made my third day in New York City 100% barefoot.  Though I could definitely feel the wear and tear on my feet.  Once back at the hotel we made plans to head out again.  We wanted to see the Empire State Building or Rockefeller Center.  The only building open at night was the Rockefeller Center.  We ended up purchasing tickets for 9:25 pm, since we had time we took a walk down to see the Empire State Building.

Arriving back at the Rockefeller Center I was finally asked to put shoes on for safety reasons.  You could tell this guy would not budge, so I put on my sandals and proceeded to the Top of the Rock.   It is interesting that I purchased my tickets barefoot one floor below in the same building with no issues.  It seems it takes only one person to decided it isn't proper for you to walk around barefoot.  We had walked almost 15 miles at this point and my feet were certainly feeling it, so I ended up walking home with the sandals on the give my soles a break. I would have toughed it out to claim 3 full barefoot days.