Friday, November 22, 2013

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

New York, New York As many times as I've been to New York City I had never been to the top of the Empire State Building - Laura and I had agreed it was something we both wanted to do this time. We went on the earlier side to beat the crowds - and it worked as we didn't have to wait very long. The price - $27 a piece + an additional $17 a piece to go all the way to the top - had made me a little weary but the second I stepped outside on the 86th floor observation deck I said to Laura, "Oh, they can pretty much charge whatever they want for this". Its worth it - trust me. The views are absolutely amazing - you can see every part of the city - Lower Manhattan and New York Harbor, Brooklyn and Queens and the ocean beyond, Central Park, Harlem and the Bronx , The Hudson from near to trailing off in the distance. You could stand there forever picking out all the different buildings - Chrysler, Rockefeller, Flatiron, 1 World Trade, and the thousands of others in between. You really have to force yourself to slow down and try to take it all in - and not to mention the art deco masterpiece that is the Empire State Building itself. I took all the photos of the expansive views - unfortunately it was cloudy and a little hazy so none of those are too spectacular.

The View Looking over the edge Chrysler Building View New York's other 1920's masterpiece - The Chrysler Building. I had to post this - even though the light is average. Laura This is Laura on the 102 floor observation deck. Even though there is a coolness factor to going all the way to the top - if asked I wouldn't recommend it - for the extra 17 bucks a piece the views aren't really that different, also it is enclosed which makes it so you can only look out and not down very well. They do say under perfect conditions you can see 80 miles in any direction from here - and you'll be a member of the "102 Club"(a per the elevator operator).  The Top Laura told me to take this for some perspective - glad I did - its a cool shot. Heartland Brewery So they Empire State building has a brewery in one of its store fronts - and any regular reader of this blog knows we couldn't pass that up. Heartland Brewery is one of New York City's older craft breweries - they have 4 or 5 locations and their beer is brewed in Brooklyn. We enjoyed a couple each and they were really good, and then we found a beer garden in a nearby park - you know were this day was heading...

1 comment:

Tim Fitzwater said...

After seeing certain "small buildings" from the Empire State Building its crazy then to be down on the streets looking up at some of them - they look huge. Its just amazing how tall the really tall building on Manhattan are - its easy to lose perspective in New York.