Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

A few weeks ago, while the kids were on Spring Break, my mom and stepdad, Bob, came to visit us! After I picked them up at the airport (or should I say, after I navigated myself through New Jersey traffic and figured out how to get to the Newark airport all by myself), we went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Ellis Island has a HUGE museum. We only went into one building, though. The whole place is like a campus. You could easily spend an entire day there. The kids were overall unimpressed with Ellis Island (the highlight for them was the ferry ride) but I thought it was fascinating. It was neat to look at the registry books and see how they recorded every single person who came through. Name, age, eye color, hair color, complexion, where they came from, where EXACTLY they were going, who they would be staying with, etc. Then they would ask them questions like how much money did they have in their pockets (many only had $5)...at one time they had a rule that you had to have at least $50 in your pocket or you weren't allowed into the U.S. They also asked if they were polygamists, anarchists, etc. Interesting...! I guess if you answered wrongly you were sent back. Also, they wouldn't allow unescorted single females into the country. I don't know if they were afraid they were going to be prostitutes in NYC or what. SO, those women either had to have family already in the states that could come get them from Ellis Island or they had to stay on the island and wait for someone to come marry them, literally right there on Ellis Island. Then they could enter the U.S.A.
The Statue of Liberty was really cool to see, too. She is a lot bigger up close and in person! The pillar that she stands on, alone, is 10 stories high. The original bldg. (and island) used to be a fort complete with cannons to protect the U.S. from approaching enemies. My, how times have changed!