Sparta, NJ - Croton on Hudson, NY

 April 27 - May 1, 2025

On Sunday, April 27, we drove to Mahlon Dickerson Reservation campground for 3 nights.  It was 50 amp electric and the water wasn't supposed to be turned on until May 1, but it was on.  It was $35.78 per night.

Site #13

It was a beautiful campground and very quiet.  Probably because there wasn't hardly anyone there!

View from our back window.

On Monday we left the campground at 6:45 in the morning and headed for Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty ferry from just south of Newark, NJ.  We had a security check-in time of 9:15 and we made it a few minutes early.  You get a timed security check-in time and then just catch the next ferry.  The traffic was horrible, but it was rush hour (do they NOT have a rush hour around here?).

This is the ferry building.  Behind it are 20 train tracks that depart from the building and haven't been used in years.  I'd love to know the history of that.

Our first stop was Ellis Island.

You go inside and get some audio phones that guide you around the building, then you go up the stairs into the Registry Room.

It looks a lot different today, but the dark benches you see are original.

This is what it looked like when all the immigrants were coming through.  People had just come on a ship in steerage for up to a month.  They landed in New York, but were ferried to Ellis Island to be processed.  There were many languages being spoken, and the women and children were separated from the men.  They had to go through physical and mental examinations, and they had to have at least $20 with them.  Some had health issues, and if they were treatable (like measles) they were sent to the hospital.  If it was a child the parents could only visit once a week for a few minutes.  If it wasn't treatable they were sent back to where they came from.  They tested for an eye disease with a button hook, where they rolled the eyelid over the button hook to check their eyes.  I'm sure the button hook didn't get cleaned between each person, so if someone had it they probably spread it to someone else.  There was a story about a family - grandmother, children, and grandchildren - where they grandmother had something wrong with her and they wouldn't let her in.  A family member said they never heard from her again.  Even so, only about 2% of people that came over had to go back.

People sat on the benches until they got up to the inspectors.  They had interpreters to help.

Ship Manifest

If they were allowed in they were ferried to the city.  If they were going somewhere besides the city they purchased train tickets to where they were going.  Since they couldn't speak English the railroad company would put a tag on them saying where they were going so the conductor would know when they should change trains or get off.

Our ferry.

When we were done at Ellis Island we took another ferry to the Statue of Liberty.  We got some lunch and walked around the statue.  You don't realize how big it is until you get up next to it.

Panorama of New York City

Then we went into the museum.

The original torch.

Full-scale model of the face.

Full-scale model of the foot.

After a couple of purchases at the gift shop we took the ferry back to the NJ terminal.  We were glad we went from NJ instead of NY.  The line to get the ferry back to the terminal was much shorter than the one for NY.  We didn't want to try and drive in the city and find parking either.  We got back at 4:30.  It was a long day.

On Wednesday we drove to Croton Point Park Campground in Croton on Hudson, NY for 2 nights.  It's 30 amp full hookups and $60.00 per night.

Site 36.  It's a pretty campground right on the Hudson River, but you can't see but a peek of water through the trees.

There was a pretty sunset last night.

Tomorrow we'll be...

Roving on...

For this is what the LORD says, He who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and not create if as a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited): "I am the LORD, and there is no one else."  Isaiah 45:1