A Visit to Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey

Liberty State Park 

So I had the rental car for the weekend. But technically, I had it for much of Monday, as well, since I had made a point of picking it up late Friday. There were things that I wanted to do, places that I wanted to go, which felt more easily accessible with a rental, while it was available. And indeed, I did do some of those things.

However, I also decided to go to Jersey City and, for the first time in many years, visit Liberty State Park. It had been years since I had last taken my son to see the Liberty Science Center, which we did most recently for some kind of Star Trek exhibit or something. Again, though, that was years ago.

This time, it was just to visit the park, and take in the sites. Nobody was with me. My son was in school for the day, my girlfriend was at work, and no family members or close friends really live nearby anymore. Plus, it was only going to be for the first part of the day, since the rental had to be returned by 5pm. So, despite the unusual nature of my visit, I went there, exploring it by myself, despite this being one of the places that I had long wanted to take my son to see. Perhaps it was lying the groundwork for a more thorough visit with him sometime in the not so distant future, hopefully.

In any case, I followed the directions after taking care of some banking business. It was maybe around half an hour from there. It was a little later than expected, but the weekend had been very tiring, and apparently, I needed a restful morning. Still, I got there early in the afternoon, following the directions on the GPS.

As it turns out, the parking was free. I had looked it up and seen that it costs $7, and was prepared to pay that amount. But there was nobody around, no one to collect the money. No machines to insert the money, and no numbered spaces or anything to indicate that anyone was watching. Nobody had tickets on their dashboards. It appeared that this was, surprisingly, free parking. There were several lots, and they were all like that. Maybe they become paid lots later on, maybe in the late afternoons or evenings, or possibly weekends? Not sure, but it did come as a surprise to me, admittedly.

Then, it was time to go ahead and pay the place a visit. Of course, this park is along the Hudson River, which gives out on a magnificent view of the world famous Manhattan skyline. The view was not disappointing, except for some of the really tall newer buildings which, frankly, lack character. There are a couple in particular which are kind of ugly, and feel like they resemble toothpicks, almost. Yet, these are the kinds of buildings that obscure some of the more attractive and distinctive buildings of that famous skyline, particularly the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Nevertheless, that did not exactly come as a surprise.

Ellis Island was very close by, and so was the bridge. It was the first time that I can remember seeing it. There was a federal police presence at the entrance, which makes sense, of course. It surprised me that there was as much traffic on it as there was, since it seemed, as far as I could tell, closed to the public. Back when I was a kid, I visited Ellis Island, although whether it was with my grandparents, or during a school trip, is no longer something that is certain. But today was the first time that I had been as close to it as this since then, probably. There had been a boat cruise or two since then, but I only remember those going quite close to the Statue of Liberty, and not so much in front of Ellis Island. Then again, the Statue of Liberty is obviously more famous, as well as considerably more striking and dramatic at first glance.

Nevertheless, to think of all the immigrants who passed through there was impressive, and humbling. I believe that my own grandparents may have been among the people who came to the country through Ellis Island. Once again, it dawned on me that I should come visit both of these two famous landmarks with my son, hopefully in the near future. It is something that I have long wanted to do, but also one of those things that, for some reason or another, we just have not gotten around to just yet.

So I kept on walking, and went closer to the Statue of Liberty. Gradually, because of the angling of the views, some other landmarks became obvious. There was the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge, in large part obscured because of the dominance of the skyscrapers which towered above it, but which was nevertheless visible. The Chrysler Building, which was not seemingly visible, could be seen eventually, although again, it looked impossibly small and insignificant. Back during my childhood, it had been one of the tallest and most prominent buildings of the New York skyline. Now, you really have to look for it to see it, at least from the Jersey side. That is not a change for the better, in my humble opinion.

While the view of the Statue of Liberty is from the rear, it is nevertheless undeniably a beautiful view. It was the first time since childhood that I was able to truly appreciate a good view of it at leisure, since the boat tours only passed by it, and rather quickly. Here, I could stand and try to get the best views of it, take pictures of my own choosing. Really, just kind of make the most of this visit.

Some of the pictures came out nicely. One thing that was a bit surprising was the constant presence of helicopters. Again, back when I was younger, there were helicopters, but not nearly so many. You could see and hear them on occasion, but it was not seemingly every few minutes, and multiple ones at a time, like it seems to be now. Some of them went quickly across the Hudson and kept going westwards, towards some unknown destination. Many of them seemed to go close to the Statue of Liberty, and circled around it, more or less. Those, it would seem, were touristy helicopter tours. Surely, they must cost an arm and a leg. Still, it must be cool, and you could see the open doors, and the shapes of the people inside. 

In any case, it was a pleasant visit. I had not come to Liberty State Park in ages, and after this, I had to wonder why that was. One thing that came out of this: it certainly should not be long before my next visit to this place. And I am especially interested in bringing my son here, who would likely really appreciate it. As the pictures below show, you can see some amazing sites, some of the most famous and iconic of the entire New York metropolitan area. If you look at the pics below, you can see some of the obvious ones, such as the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Manhattan skyline. If you look more closely at some of the pictures, however, you can see the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Jersey City skyline, which is increasingly impressive in it's own right. 

Enjoy!