What a day! I am a life-long resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, and a trip to New York City is not an uncommon experience. After all, museums, Broadway plays, Central Park, and Rockefeller Center are only a 20 minute bus ride away. But not all New Jersey residents consider New York an extension of the metropolitan lifestyle. Take my boyfriend for example. Joe is the product of a New Jersey suburb and under most circumstances does not venture into the wilds of NYC. But he has had a life-long admiration for the Art Deco design of the Empire State Building. Today would be the day for his first time experience at the legendary building and I would be a born-again tourist!
Joe and I boarded a bus on Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City and took the Lincoln Tunnel into the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street. From there, we walked to 35th Street and 5th Avenue. The Empire State Building loomed wonderfully and elegantly above us. We entered its lovely lobby with its Art Deco architecture and style but Joe was eager to see the sights from above. But wait! I wanted him to have the whole Empire State Building experience. So first we visited the Sky Ride which I think is amazingly fun and informative. That is if one likes his seat to move in conjunction with the swooping and dipping of a faux helicopter ride over NYC. Unfortunately, Joe did not appreciate the finer points of this venture and kept his eyes closed for most of the trip. Hopefully, the next leg of our adventure would yield a better result.
Success! We traveled up to the Observation Deck and circumnavigated the floor at least twice before calming down enough to stop and truly appreciate the breathtaking view. The panorama was absolutely unbelievable the bridges, the waterways, the Chrysler Building, the Flat Iron Building. Then the fun really began. Everyone was trying to take pictures of themselves with haphazard results. We offered to take pictures of individuals, couples, and families. In return, they offered to take pictures of us. Ah, picture-taking–the great leveler! We met people from Kentucky, Texas, and Wisconsin as well as Portugal, Brazil, and Italy. We may not all have spoken the same language but we all wanted to have this shared experience.
Well, our journey is almost done. One more stop necessary the gift shop! Now, really, could a visit to the Empire State Building be complete without buying a coffee mug that has King Kong dangling from its handle? Would my Born-Again Tourist metamorphosis be complete without it? Ah, can t wait to put on the coffee maker in the morning!
