This past weekend gave us the chance to venture outdoors into, wait for it, sunlight.  It’s funny to think that this is what we look forward to as winter finally starts to say farewell. We’ve finally reached the point where we get to simultaneously freeze and bake playing the game of sweater/no sweater. After a gruesome hour and a half drive in traffic we finally made it to Liberty State Park.

Liberty State Park offers you a 2 mile long boardwalk that runs along the Hudson River.  From the boardwalk you can see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and views of downtown Manhattan. This park is the only location in New Jersey with ferry service to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. In addition to the boardwalk, this park also offers a picnic area, has a large greenery, an Interpretive Center, an outdoor performance area and the Liberty Science Center. Also accessible from the boardwalk is the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal (CRRNJ). The railway is no longer in service but this historic terminal has striking architectural features that are indicative of that era. This seems to be a very popular stop for wedding/engagement photography.

The boardwalk is beautifully maintained and has a few small sections that are still being rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast in October of 2012. One of the sections being rebuilt is near the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial. In September of 2011, it was dedicated to the family members of the 749 New Jersey residents who had lost their lives. The two rectangular towers stand at 30 feet tall and have their names etched into the reflective stainless steel. The towers were oriented to follow a straight line to where the Twin Towers once stood. We had a moment of silence as we walked between the towers.

With the sun setting and the wind really picking up, we made our way back to the car. On our way we noticed this lovely hidden feature of the boardwalk. Does anyone else see elephants and giraffes on the horizon or is that just us…?

Thank you for reading!

Be sure to leave a like or comment if you enjoyed the post and feel free to leave suggestions of places you think we should visit next.

Till next time,

The Traveling Trash Pandas