Day 13, Wednesday:
Travel to Liberty Harbor RV park.
I had heard that Fort Delaware was pretty neat to see and it was directly on our path. Our original plan was to stop to see Philly en route to NYC, now that we had already done that, I thought maybe we'd check out Fort Delaware. Eh, again, nobody was enthused at all. We'd already seen a fort this trip, and a battlefield, and a prison, and......you get the picture. Fine, I don't want to force the issue and it's not like I'm driving past the Liberty Bell and not stopping to see it. So we drove directly to Jersey City.
Thanks to everyone that answered my questions about traffic and road ways. It really was uncomplicated to get to Liberty Harbor. We arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon and had zero problems with traffic, just as someone suggested. Perfect when you're completely out of your element.
I tell you what, I've never seen the Statue of Liberty. When we crested a hill and I saw it in the distance for the first time ever, I actually got goosebumps. It was a very exciting experience. I'm sure it's no big deal for those that live locally, but if you're an adult and have never seen it in your entire life, it just seemed significant to me. Suddenly, my kids were excited again too!
The campground is unimpressive, but I was prepared for that.
We set up camp and headed over to Liberty State Park just to check out the views and we got some amazing family pictures.
Maybe this will be our Christmas card this year.
There was a memorial in the park there from 911 and I appreciated that my children could have that unexpected educational experience. We planned to go to the 911 Memorial in NYC, but this was less crowded, easier to get to, and still powerful.
The kids played at the playground for a long while. It was a pleasant evening. I saw many families with young children and I realized that they had to come to the park to let their kids play outside, they have no yards. I can't imagine working all day and hanging at the park afterward so my kids could run in the grass. That made me feel fortunate too, I have a yard, trees, grass. I just open my door and let my dogs outside, I don't have to walk them. The playground was the most diverse mixture of people and races I've ever seen. I couldn't help thinking how much less sheltered my children will be because of this experience.
