Skyscraper Post.

About a decade ago one of my buddies from Armenia was visiting the US and was in Chicago. Of course, one of the things to do in Chicago is to climb up the Sears Tower. Which we did. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and the top of the building was covered in clouds and we couldn't see anything but the roof of the next tallest portion of the building. In an effort to look at the bright side, I thought that at least we are in the clouds without being in an airplane.

Since I was a kid, I have been fascinated with tall buildings. I don't like heights - anything beyond 30 feet makes me uncomfortable. So in order to overcome this, I always try to go as high as possible. As a kid, it was walking on the roofs of Khruschev or 9 story buildings in Armenia. In the US, roofs are not easily accessible so it's climbing on the top floor of skyscrapers. The best, perhaps, was using the stairs on the (half emty) GM building in Detroit which in a tubular stairwell covered with glass. When you climb down, it feels as if you are going to fall. The second best is standing at the edge of the glass floor on top of the CN Tower in Toronto.

BBC has a short slideshow about the initial stages of the skyscrapers in the US. It's not very comprehensive but it's OK.