Great views from the plane

I will be flying past New York City tomorrow as part of my beat and always look forward to a trip over the Big Apple (especially if it's a perfectly clear day). It's a great sight to look down on the city, be able to recognize every building and just see something remarkable out the window other than water and undeveloped land.

It also gives me a chance to reflect on Sept. 11, of course, and think about the emotion/bravery that went along with that day in history. When thought about in that sense, there's probably no other rush of emotion more chilling than being in a plane over New York. Takes me back.

That being said, what are some of your favorite destinations/sites from the air? I've never been to Europe, so I'm sure that alone offers quite a view. I also get a kick to fly over mountains as well - not sure why - and the landing in Philadelphia is also quite fun because you look out the window, see land, see a river about 10 feet below you then land.

 

We took a vacation to Europe one year, and on the flight back to Chicago our route, for whatever reason, took us down through Canada. It was incredible to look down and see beautiful lakes pockmarked all over the landscape. They were everywhere, as far as I could see.

 

Looking down out of a plane skeeves the shit out of me.

 

Flying into DC's Reagan National, you see all the sights. Then the plane turns hard and drops like a rock into the airport thanks to all the restricted airspace above the city.

 

That's because it's a shorter distance ... "the Great Circle" route.

 

I flew from Houston to L.A. a few years ago and the route took us smack over Phoenix. It was awesome seeing the mile grids at 40,000 feet look like postage stamps. I recognized the spring training facilities at Surprise.

 

What are those mile grids near Phoenix? Flew over them last month and had no clue as to what they were.

Flying into Philly, minutes before you land, if you're on the correct side of the plane you can look down and see the sports complex (Wachovia Center, Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park). Especially cool during baseball season, at night, if the Phillies are at home, being able to look down and see the stands packed and field light up.

 

The mile grids ARE Phoenix. All the major streets and avenues are laid out a mile apart and are easily recognizable from the air.

 

Then it wasn't the mile grids of Phoenix I was thinking of.
There was some grid I saw from the air a good 20 minutes before we landed, some of the squares were green, some were the color of desert sand.

 

I was flying into LaGuardia last summer and we flew right over Rockefeller Center and past the Empire State Building. Very cool.

Vegas is pretty cool from the air as well.

 

Fying into Vancouver was pretty incredible.

 

Some of my faves:

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - Seeing the white sand beaches for miles, then landing in what looks like the middle of nowhere.

San Jose, Costa Rica - Weird to be in the clouds then almost immediately on the ground ... elevation of the airport is really high.

Berlin, Germany (Tegel) - You can easily differentiate between East Berlin and West Berlin.

Mexico City - Not a really pleasant sight, but the city is so enormous ... amazing to see it stretch on forever.