Our last day in New York was just a half day, but we wanted to utilize as much time as possible.  This provided the opportunity for a rather leisurely morning taking in the sights from Top of the Rock some 70-plus floors up, before grabbing some lunch and coffee and making our way to the airport.

Our half-day in NYC gave us enough time to enjoy hanging out at Top of the Rock.  I'm someone who has a healthy fear of heights, but the views were pretty incredible.  There are three stories to navigate in your Top of the Rock experience, with varying degrees of partition between you and the open ledge.

The experience itself is very organized.  You first line up outside until your appointed entry time.  Then you are led to another line that takes you to a line for the elevator.  They do not hesitate to pack that elevator like a can of sardines.  This made me incredibly anxious.  The elevator ride is only 56 seconds or something, but still....

Navigating the routes to the various levels can be a little tricky and disorienting because all the floors looked the same to me, but the employees were friendly and helpful when I asked for directions.  We decided to start at the very top floor and work our way down, which worked well for us.

Make sure you leave enough time to wait in the long elevator line to get back down.  I think it took almost half an hour for us to get a ride back down to the ground level.  Again, they will pack you in like sardines and I just laughed at the faces of the people when they realized the fatty was squeezing in with them.  It was hilarious!

There are a couple of touristy experiences once at the top, which we didn't partake in.  There is also a cafe and a small restroom.  It costs about $50 a person for just the basic ticket.

Once safely on the ground, we meandered around, picked up some coffee from a very posh-looking place that looked way too cool for us (but the coffee was tasty), grabbed some food, and headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags and get a car to the airport.

It takes about an hour to get from Midtown to JFK by car.  We talked with one of the doormen at our hotel who arranged for a car to pick us up at a discounted rate.  It saved us about $50, but the woman driving was wearing so much perfume that I was almost puking within a few minutes of being in the car with her, and that's with the windows rolled down!

We made it just fine.  The lady was nice.  But I gulped in the fresh air for a few minutes before we spent hours inside the confines of buildings and flying canisters.  The perfume was lodged in my nostrils and I could taste it for hours afterward.

New York City is intimidating and overwhelming.  It's exciting and gross and wonderful and scary and beautiful.  I'm happy I went.  I'm happy I let it grow on me.  I'm happy I left with a fondness for the city despite a rather rocky start.  And as I finish up this last NYC post, I can tell you that I absolutely look forward to visiting again one day. 😁