Rannow Family Adventures

Statue of Liberty Here We Come!

by Beverley Rannow

“Are you ready for one more adventure?” I say. My husband, Mike, turns his head looking at me as we are driving west on I-95 approaching the Washington Bridge in New York City. 

“I think we have just enough time to take the kids to see the Statue of Liberty,” I say looking up from the map unfolded in my lap.

“If we take the exit onto Riverside Drive, it leads right to Battery Park. There’s a ferry nearby that we can take to the statue. The last ferry is at 4 PM. I think we can just make it. It should only take us about thirty minutes to get down to the ferry.”

“Okay,” says my reluctant husband who has learned it’s better not to argue with my bright ideas.

We turn off onto Riverside Drive in our 1989 Chrysler Caravan with a pop-up trailer in tow. Traffic is a bit busier than I expect and when we get to the ferry we have trouble finding a place large enough for us to park. Piling out of the car, we rush to the ferry entrance to be told, “Sorry the last ferry has just left, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

The family let out a collective groan of deep disappointment. Tomorrow is not an option. We are on our way back to Michigan after vacationing in Massachusetts. 

Not to be defeated I say, “Lets go to Battery Park, at least we can see the Statue of Liberty from there. It will have to do for now.”

We pile back into the car and Mike drives to Battery Park and pulls up to the entry kiosk. The park ranger says, “I’m sorry but campers are not allowed to park in Battery Park. You are going to have to drive through and out.”

This is turning into a wild goose chase! Undaunted I say, “Mike drive really slowly and let us out.” Mike pulls away from the kiosk and creeps forward a ways, stops and let’s us out. The kids and I make a mad dash to the fence to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty across the bay and take a picture. We then pile back into the car before Mike makes it to the exit.

It is now about 5 pm. Quitting time on a Friday night! What was a somewhat busy drive down Riverside Drive, is now a mad dash of office workers anxious to get off Manhattan Island and get home. We merge into the traffic amidst honks and dirty looks.

It is bumper to bumper traffic. As we slowly creep back to I-95, we can see the Empire State Building and the Twin Towers. We crane our necks looking up at the iconic buildings around us. Drivers impatient with us, literally drive on the sidewalks to get around us purposely cutting us off at traffic lights making our exit even slower.

We are within a couple of traffic lights of our exit, when the impatient drivers refuse to let us change lanes to get to the exit. We are stuck sitting at the light for no less than seven light changes. An enterprising flower salesman, much to the amusement of my children, places his buckets of flowers on top of the pop-up camper and continues doing business with the cars that pass us. 

Finally! A young man noticing our Michigan license plate feels sorry for us and signals to let us go. Mike starts driving away from the light and my children start shrieking, “Dad there’s flowers still on the camper!” As we move, the flower salesman suddenly realizes his flowers are taking off and races to grab them off the camper. 

We finally make it back to the Washington Bridge and join the throngs leaving New York City.