View from the Top

Shawn and I officially became engaged high above the city of New York. And so we thought it fitting to celebrate our last wedding anniversary as New Yorkers (our second overall) even higher above the city -- the top of the Empire State Building to be exact.

After a ridiculously long wait -- try an hour and a half of standing in lines, herded like cattle, on hard concrete with uniformed people screaming at you (remove your belts, move along, etc.) -- we emerged at the top for a spectacular view. The deck was crowded with tourists, but we were able to get time along each of the views, starting with East, working South (our view!), West and North. I recognized everything from that high and it was pretty spectacular.

Shawn and I each had books, and he finished his exactly when we emerged at the top of the building. So the waiting wasn't as bad as it could have been had we not planned ahead.

By the end of the trip, however, I had almost reached my limit of patience, and my back was killing me (no amount of regular exercise could prepare you for that amount of uncomfortable standing). So I was glad to take the bus home and lie down to watch the end of the basketball game (BOO hiss!).

So another bucket list item checked, another experience with Shawn and a lukewarm recommendation. There are probably faster times to go -- the elevator operator recommended early morning or nearing midnight (although that that point you'd be limiting yourself, as I assume they make you leave as they're closing up?).




Again, I don't know how to include captions in a slide show, but if you click through to Flickr, you can see my notes. I also couldn't figure out how to reorder these ...