jerrylcanterbury
Mar 2022
I am, by nature, a frustrated civil engineer. As a youngster, I was fascinated by road building. However, by the time I began college, the majority of the Interstate Highway System had been completed and I could see career opportunities in civil engineering would be limited for some time to come. I chose a career in information technology instead, which worked out great for my career. Still, I enjoy seeing how roads and bridges are built.
Not surprisingly, I like to read about major building projects and the challenges encountered. One book on the topic my wife and I read was “The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge” by David McCullough. The book was interesting. One thing I realized after reading it was, after all my visits to NYC for work and leisure, I had never once experienced the Brooklyn Bridge. This month, as we visited NYC to see some Broadway shows on a trip deferred by COVID-19 from 2020, and also a celebration of our 35th anniversary, we decided this was the year to remedy that.
We researched a few different tour companies and definitely wanted a tour that actually walked across the bridge. We decided upon Inside Out Tours because they got good reviews and the price was reasonable. It was a good choice for us.
Our guide Steve was great in that he actually messaged us in the hour before the tour started to confirm where to meet and ask if we had any questions. That was a nice touch. It helped some other guests on our tour who were running behind and/or having trouble finding the start location in front of Tweed Courthouse.
Steve began the tour by giving us some background and history on the area around Tweed Courthouse, including City Hall, Municipal Hall, and the African-American Burial Ground. Of course, there was some background on the Brooklyn Bridge itself.
Our tour group was large – 27 people. However, the tradeoff for the large group was an attractive price for the tour. Steve carried a microphone/speaker combination so we could all hear him speak during the tour, even when on the busy bridge with noisy traffic flowing underneath us. As we cross the bridge, Steve pointed out some great photo spots. When we reached the Dumbo area, Steve pointed out some great photo spots again. When the tour was done, Steve also made sure we knew where some good local eateries were and how to get to a nearby subway station to return to our hotel.
I give Steve five stars for being an excellent guide. The tour itself I give four stars because I would have enjoyed more discussion of the actual mechanics and management of building the bridge, although other tour guests might not have appreciated that as much as I would have.