A few weeks ago, during a busy day in New York City, I decided to take advantage of an hour of free time and pay a visit to Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock observatory. I’ve been to several observatories in Chicago but had never visited one in New York. I kind of had my heart set on seeing the city from the top of the Empire State Building (probably an after-effect of watching too many romantic movies and shows set in New York City), but my legs were tired and Rockefeller Center was closer. While I did raise my eyebrows a bit at paying $30 for 15 minutes of looking at something ($2 per minute, I couldn’t help but think), I got over my cheap attitude, bought my ticket and took the winding way up to the top. After a few hallways, a staircase and another hallway, I found a long line of people waiting to have their picture taken in front of a Top of the Rock mural, which I bypassed, and then another line watching an informational video, which I also bypassed. An elevator and a few flights of stairs and I was there! Once up top, I was immediately taken by the breathtaking image of Central Park laid at my feet. On the other side sat the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty. The space wasn’t too crowded at all and there was plenty of room to take photos and selfies. A few raindrops herded most of the crowd out, but there was nothing keeping the stragglers and myself from staying past the 15-minute limit. I was suddenly very glad I spent the $30 and decided I would gladly recommend all of my out-of-town visitors in the future to do so as well. — Holly Godbey, marketing & sales assistant