View from the Top

Today was supposed to be relaxing. We're hitting our stride with activities and going to movies seems to renew our enthusiasm. We only have a few things (that we can reasonably do) left on our list and I've been dreading one -- going to the top of the Empire State Building. Not that I didn't want to see the view, I just new it was going to be a complete nightmare of crowds. Since it was cold and windy I was hopeful everyone else decided to stay home.

Unfortunately that was not the case, though by the half-filled maze of velvet ropes I could at least tell we came at an unbusy time. The wait wasn't too bad and Laurie figured out that getting me to read while in line is distracting enough to keep me from getting grumpy. Past the ticket booth things were much smoother and we skipped giant holding rooms. Racing through was actually quite humorous as the entire place is designed to extract the maximum amount from your wallet while in line. The line snakes back and forth through the same set of rooms and each tchotchke station was fully staffed. Without many other tourists, we got to see each station 2-3 times in a matter of seconds and I had to laugh at each passing. We wound up right back where this whole maze began and I guess they weren't willing to pull the initial rope in hopes that a little crystal Empire State Building would catch someone's eye.

From there you ride up to the 80th floor to get to another set of ropes, also mainly empty. The elevators slow things down a bit and the repetition of the sales pitch for each new station got a little annoying. It was like watching a robot and regardless of how long you stared (even with direct eye contact) they never broke stride or volume. I think a gentler, more personal pitch would have been more effective than the unenthusiastic infomercial-like approach given at maximum volume to 15 helpless people.

We reached the top and I have to admit I was really impressed. The view is incredible and the tremendous height makes you feel really out there. I've been to the top of numerous tall cliffs of similar height, but something about this being man-made and much more slender is a little unnerving. Regardess, the views off of each side were breathtaking and, dispite the raging wind and rain, we did multiple laps around the top. Fully satisfied, and freezing, we made our way *back* through the tchotchkes and were more than happy to reach the safety and normalcy of the street.

From there we shot back down to Tribeca to catch a film. The film center is adjacent to the WTC site and we're passing its length on almost a daily basis. Though I'm not as overwhelmed as the first few times, I still feel very solemn when passing and it's hard not to get caught up in the emotion of the place. Progress seems to be moving quickly and they've set up cones to define the tower footprints -- I'm guessing for the landscaping to come. This was done in the past few days and was a little weird to suddenly see appear.

Anyways, the movie we decided to see was quite intense. It was a fictional story about the crystal meth problem in Iowa. It was extremely well-done and had it not completely blown the ending would have been nightmare-inducing for several weeks. It was hard to feel much against it as we were literally sitting a few feet from a (very excited) portion of the cast and crew that created it. I guess the personal connection helps you overlook, or at least remain quiet about, major shortcomings. Dispite the bad ending, it still put us in a weird emotional state that left us wanting to get away from it all. The movies up until now left us ready to get back out into the city, but this one was messed up enough that all I wanted to do was find a quiet hole to crawl into. Certainly not a hole in the city and most definitely not one in Iowa.

We rested up for a few hours and watched some bad TV to get us back into a normal emotional state. Laurie's been talking about going to this party for weeks as it's name (Couscous and Apple Juice) peaked her interest. We've been disappointed with the Time Out build-up of events before so we left our house with low (probably just more reasonable) expectations. The club holding the party is right by our apartment in the Meat Packing District. Like I've mentioned before this area is swanky and filled with well-dressed and trying-to-be-seen crowds. We knew our intended venue was unmarked, but I'd thought that we'd be able to find it by the velvet ropes and crowds.

We passed the first place (which I knew wasn't where we needed to be) and got in line for the second. There really wasn't much of a line, just a guy ahead of us getting some 'tude from the doormen. He left in a huff and we were next. I did my best to look uninterested and cool, though I was quite nervous when the clipboard lady asked us who's list we were on. Although I thought about throwing out Dylan McDermott's name as he was standing right there and would've definitely vouched for us, we sheepishly replied "nobody's list, just us". It turns out that tonight was a hopping private party, which immediately deflated our evening plans. Laurie disappointingly asked, "Isn't the last Monday usually the 'Couscous and Apple Juice' party?" "Huh? What's 'Couscous and Apple Juice'?"
To which Laurie responded, "Your party."
"What place are you looking for . . . APT?"
"Yep"
Chuckling the lady finished, "Just down the street."

Shoot. There goes all the cool points I'd scored by brooding for the past few minutes. We left the door lady laughing (as was she) and headed down the street. The street sure looked deserted to me. Where the heck was this place? We found the right address and opened a large black nondescript door. We entered a small foyer only to be presented with three more large black nondescript doors. Which one? Trying my best to listen for sounds, but having no luck we tried the middle one. Bingo! We unconfidently stepped inside and I didn't really hear if the girl actually let us in or not, I just stepped through. The place is really nice and has feel of someone's well-done living room. We immediately shot through and went outside to the small garden. Slowly regaining confidence we went back inside for a beer.

Now I know this place has two floors and the party was on the lower. We were on the upper floor and getting downstairs seemed impossible. Laurie was questioning my information and I was hawkishly stalking people trying to figure out where the flippin' stairwell was. Finally fed up, and blowing any remaining coolness, I asked the waitress how to get downstairs. Out by the door girl. Shoot. Didn't seem that friendly and I had done such a poor job of getting through the first time I wasn't looking forward to being out there again. It was, not surprisingly, not a big deal and we quickly descended into our intended destination.

The place is really neat. It has a long bar completely surrounding the perimeter and the dj booth is at the end with a tight dance floor in the middle. It's well lit and the crowd is well-dressed and pumped up to have a good time. Quite discerning, the crowd respondes when the DJ does well, but immediately calms down in the slower spots. A little intimidated, Laurie and I enjoy the scene from our wallflower perches. Finally wearing down after a long day we head for home and after an exhausting day of emotional ups and downs I'm definitely ready to hit the hay.