I went to the top once. I like the tops of tall buildings. The observation deck was floor to ceiling glass. That did not play well with my fear of heights. I stood well back from the glass.

I�ve been to Liberty State Park a few times. Liberty State Park was built on the old Black Tom docks in Jersey City. The ferry docks here for trips to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The view of lower Manhattan was spectacular. I�m sure the view still is spectacular. But I haven�t been back, yet.

I went to the riverfront in Hoboken in 2000 to see OPSail. Beautiful views across the river. Just a short walk from the refurbished Hoboken Train Station with the beautiful Tiffany stained-glass skylight. Ten thousand square feet of Tiffany glass! I�ve been back to the Hoboken Train Station, to take the tubes into New York. But not back to the waterfront. (Yes, this is where �On the Waterfront� was shot.) I�ve taken the tubes to the parade on Christopher Street. But the views there are limited. Christopher runs east-west. And the dust and grime have been cleaned away. I�ve taken the tubes to midtown to go to Carnegie Hall to see Patricia Barber in concert. But that was in the evening. Of course, one of the tube trains from Hoboken doesn�t run any more.

For fifteen years or so, I used to go to my favorite beach. Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook. Okay, so it�s my favorite beach because it�s the only nudist beach in New Jersey. Sandy Hook juts six miles up, separating Raritan Bay from Lower New York Harbor. It�s part of Gateway National Recreation Area. The waters are calm here, because it�s not really open ocean; it�s on Lower New York Harbor. The view east is to Far Rockaway about 20 miles across the bay. The view north� well you could see them, rising majestically over Brooklyn. A bit to the west you can see the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge. (I usually call it the Very-Narrow Bridge.) A magnificent feat of engineering. There were some nice beach days last October, but I made the conscious decision not to go. No, I didn�t go back. In fact, I haven�t been back yet, not even this year. Maybe next month I�ll go to the beach. I�ve got tan lines. Hate that. But I haven�t been back yet, you know.

There�s a beautiful view from Washington Rock in South Mountain Reservation. Washington�s troops had an observation post here to watch for the British troops marching to Connecticut Farms. You can see lower Manhattan from here. I haven�t been back there yet, either.

There are many other places that you used to be able to see them. But there they were part of the scenery, not the dominant feature. Those are easier. Ramapo Torne in Harriman State Park, NY. Northfield Avenue in West Orange. Rte 10 at the top of the hill in Parsippany-Troy Hills. Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark. (Dumb name. The Eagles haven�t played in Newark since the Negro League was dissolved. And these Bears are NOT those Newark Bears - the greatest minor league team that ever existed!) You used to be able to see them over the right field wall. I�ve been back there. They were only part of the background. Even that game I attended last October when there were only forty people in the stadium. These places I�ve been back to.

I guess it�s time I got over it. It�s been a year now. Maybe I�ll start by taking a day at the beach sometime next month, when the weather is nice. I haven�t been to the beach in a year now, and I�ve got tan lines.

Maybe I will go back.