Ken Salazar announced on the Today Show today that the Statue of Liberty's crown will re-open to the public on July 4 this year. That is so cool! The problem will be logistical: Only 30 people per hour can go up there which means a maximum of about 300 people a day. As thousands visit the statue every day, I imagine they'll need some sort of lottery to make it fair as far as who gets to go up.

I will be helping my clients win that lottery, just so you know, but the crown is really not the best part of that tour. The famous inscription in the statue's pedestal reads, in part:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" -- from "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus

Ellis Island is where America really walked the walk on that promise. In my opinion, it is a far more interesting place to spend a couple of hours than is Liberty Island. You can feel the ghosts of those millions of people huddled in masses, yearning to breathe free. It fills you with a sort of pride and patriotism that defies description. The ferry takes you within spitting distance of Lady Liberty. So I recommend Ellis Island and Battery Park and environs as a great afternoon tour. For little kids, the statue itself is a blast, and it will be even more so with the crown opening, but for those seriously interested in history and who want a shot of patriotic vigor, Ellis Island is the way to go.

Anyway, it's great that they're opening the crown. I imagine that it will be good for business, too!