8/6/13

Bicentennial Tower at Dobbins Landing – Best Place to See Erie, PA
Dapper Days


Captain Dapper likes to stop to see the sights.

If you ever find yourself near the Sheraton Erie Bayfront or the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, you really must take a few minutes to walk out to the end of the pier and take the elevator up to the top of the tower. If you can manage to do it at sunset, all the better. 


On our road trip to Connecticut last month, The Mister and I broke up our trip by spending the night in Erie, Pennsylvania. I booked us a room at the Sheraton Bayfront, which was a rather unremarkable room but afforded us a view of the lake. As we pulled into the hotel, after about eight hours in the car, I caught sight of this tower sitting at the end of the pier. Knowing that we were in desperate need of stretching our legs, I announced that we just HAD to climb that tower. The Mister agreed. One of the many reasons I love him. 




It turns out that you can't actually climb the tower at the end of Dobbins Landing. You can pay a few bucks to take the elevator to the top of the tower but apparently the stairs are merely for show - or perhaps for emergency situations. We were a little disappointed that we wouldn't get the workout from climbing the stairs but we took the elevator to the top anyway. I mean, we had come this far ... !




Looking West from the top of the tower you can see out across Lake Erie, as seen in the video above. From the East facing side of the tower you can see Erie, PA - or, well, you can see some streets and hills and trees. Otherwise you can see the convention center and a few other piers and boat landings. And then, just as we were about to say Is that all there is? something magical happened. The sunset. As we stood on the tower's observation deck, the sky started to turn orange as the sun made its slow descent. And then at one point I turned around and snapped this shot:


This shot of me and The Mister reflected in the glass of the tower was worth the price of the elevator ride to the top. Sadly, all of the kids who were on the tower that evening, were not as impressed by the sunset. They were all instantly bored and also annoyed that they couldn't take the stairs. I hear ya, kids! 

And then we took the elevator back down, went to the bar in the Sheraton and got tipsy. Because that's just how we do things.

Images: Jason Loper

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