Battery Park War Memorial

Well, Saturday morning we boogied out and about bright and early.  We were headed for the Statue of Liberty, of course, since that was ALL Nathaniel talked about from the time he knew we were going to New York!  We ended up going though Battery Park on our way to the ferry, and stumbled across the War Memorial.  We were so humbled, looking at the names of so many people who had given their lives for our freedom.  

Nat was also suitably impressed with this awesome sculpture of an eagle, and made me snap a pic of him standing there and grinning in front of it.  The hard part was trying to get a photo without all those other crazy tourists wandering into the frame!    ... tourists!!!  LOL

The park is also home to Castle Clinton, a circular red sandstone fort built in 1807 on what was then an offshore spit of rocks.  The entire area is a giant landfill, just like huge parts of Boston.  Castle Clinton is a museum today, and tickets for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Island are sold in a kiosk on the parade ground.  

Herman Melville visited Battery Park and wrote of New Yorkers "fixed in ocean reveries.... They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand."