Last Week with Brogan

Our last week with our young Irish friend,Brogan, was another week of heat and miles of driving. We went to Ocean City, MD for a day so she could feel how warm the ocean is in America. It was a beautiful day with cool breezes. We were with my friend Terrie and her family who have a condo on the beach. She has got to be the most gracious hostess ever! I think Brogan had a good time since she spent hours in the ocean laughing with Terrie's daughter and friend. She never says she likes a place or says "thank you for taking me" so it's hard to tell. It gets a bit disheartening at times. It was a long day with 7 hours in the car but worth it. At least I had a good time relaxing and laughing with my friend Terrie. We escaped the heat of this house for a while anyway.

Thursday, on our way to the airport, we took the ferry out to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty. It was so humid and hazy that the skyline was NYC was shrouded but Ellis Island is incredible. Much money spent to restore the crumbling buildings there, but so worth it. The National Parks Service again has made a place affordable for all to visit. Wonderful museums,a great film and even a place where you can look up any ancestors that may have entered America through New York. $12 for the ferry and museums on both islands. Enthusiastic rangers will tour and instruct and answer any questions. Go NPS...you rock.
The ferry ride out was full of tourist from so many foreign countries that English was just one of the languages spoken. As we pushed our way off the ferry to the cooler breezes of the island I couldn't help but feel a slight kinship with the millions of European immigrants who also walked into a new land surrounded by many languages.Did you know that 40% of all Americans have an ancestor that came through Ellis Island? Their journey being so much more overwhelming than mine for sure. They were made of sturdy stuff. I have already decided I am going back to spend a day on Ellis Island only. We didn't have enough time there to see everything.

Allowing 4 hours to get to the airport, never know about NY traffic, we were early so we headed to Coney Island to get a Nathan's hot dog at the original place and check out the boardwalk. Brogan was enthusiastic about her hot dog, so this was at least a good stop on our journey. Since we allowed so much time and the was no traffic( Go figga) we got to the airport early. We could have spent more time at Ellis but who knew. I'm sure Brogan is glad to be home and cool. I'm happy to be cooler and free!