The Empire State Building

Our tour of NYC would not be complete without venturing up the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. This giant building used to be the largest in the world, even though it is not anymore it's still an impressive site to behold. The top of the building is actually on the 102nd floor, but the main viewing deck is on the 86th floor. It takes about an half hour to reach the top. The elevator ride is only about 2 minutes, but it was crowded, they pack as many people as they can safely fit in it.  Also, it is old, so there are some strange sounds. Only so many people are allowed up at a time, so the time you are there needs to be carefully coordinated. Luckily, this time when my aunt and I visited we made it up in about 45 minutes. It really depends on the traffic.
 

Entering the building is like a blast from the past. Everything is marble and gold. It looks so, 1930ish, which makes sense because the building was built in 1930, but obviously it has been renovated to it's original designs. It is designated as a historical landmark and it even has it's own zip code (The more you know....)

There is security all over the building. Post 911 has made everyone more cautious, they screen you through a metal detector, you cannot have glass bottles (obviously you could throw it off the building and kill someone or use it as a weapon), and you must put your bag through a x-ray machine. 

There are four sides to the 86th floor. This is only my second trip, but I learned how to distinguish what we were looking at by finding the Flatiron building. It's like my true north (I am aware it's not north- it's really kind of in the middle). I only know where things are in Manhattan in correlation to where the Flatiron building is... (at least in respects to where my hotel was located and where my cousin lives) but that is a story for another time.


You may purchase tickets to go all the way up to the 102nd floor, it's a just a little more money and it's indoor, but on a clear day they say you can see about 80 miles out.

There are so many things to do and see in NYC, you don't have to do touristy stuff, but it is a good view from the top and there is Wifi available if you want to broadcast videos on Facebook. Also, there are pictures available for purchase if you are into that sort of thing.... obviously we were!

This is where we went: http://www.esbnyc.com/