Never Wear a Dress on Top the Empire State Building

I've only been to New York City one time and I loved it I would have never imagined that this small town girl with a fear of the big cities of Huntington and Charleston West Virginia would love New York, but I did. I have always sworn I would go back but you know how it is, you make plans and life gets in the way.

My Aunt Wanda took me for a graduation present when I was 17 years old. We rode on on the train from Delaware and as soon as we got off in Grand Central Station I was dazzled by all the action. The first thing I saw was a woman sitting on a trash can singing opera. I was completely amused by this and didn't take but a couple more steps when a man walked up to me with his hand held out, saying, "put some money in the wine pot. put some money in the wine pot." I burst out laughing and my aunt grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away admonishing me at the same time, "I told you not to talk to anybody!"

I quickly learned not to amble across the street in the usual Logan County fashion. Once the light turns there all those cabs and traffic will run over you in a heartbeat! They don't wait for you to get out of the way - they move you!

We spent the entire day sightseeing with the day ending at a Broadway Play, "A Romantic Comedy". It was supposed to star Mia Farrow and Anthony Perkins but Mia wasn't there that day. Then there was the scene where Anthony Perkins came out with only a suitcase to block his private parts and to top it off turned backwards so that I could see his balls hanging between his legs. A sight I had never seen and caused my aunt to grab her chest and exclaim, "oh my gawd, if I had known this I would have never bought you!"

My Aunt Robin was with us. She is only a year older than me. Robin and I were allowed to roam Central Park alone. It was full of joggers and rollerskaters (1980) and was completely crowded with people enjoying nature in the middle of NYC. My crazy aunt actually took on what she thought was a gang coming towards us. She started running her big mouth on them about how tough they thought the were and taunting them so much that I was afraid they would kill us. They probably would have but luckily they were the Guardian Angels (red berets) and strolled on doing their good works and ignoring yet another stupid tourist.

I rode the subway and then we went to the Empire State Building. We went to the top and immediately, as soon as I stepped out the door, my dress flew over my head. I could not hold it down. It was a completely embarrassing moment for a 17 year old and to top it off when we stopped in the deli at the bottom of the building we sat next to a booth full of guys who were laughing about how they had spent the day watching women's skirts fly over their heads.

I saw Chinatown and some man was selling flyers about divorce and marriage on the corner. He had crazy signs all over him and I had to buy a flyer for a souvenier. The Statue of Liberty was closed for repairs. We went on one of those glass topped tour busses and as we went in front of the UN building the wind was blowing so strong the building actually looked like it was falling on top of us! The tour guide explained that the building was constructed that way so that it could handle the strong winds.

It was an action packed day and I'll never forget stepping out of Grand Central Station and looking up to see buildings so high that they actually looked like they touched each other and I couldn't see the sky!