No, I didn't stand in line for 20 hours to be the first person in line. To be first in line I would have been in line for much longer than that, and been battling the rain. But I did stalk the grand opening of the store, trying to get as close to the event as possible. The Fifth Avenue store is HUGE. And I don't just mean the store itself. It means to much for the company: a presence on Fifth Avenue alongside the greatest brands in the world. The most expensive real estate anywhere, steps from Central Park. It's a sign that Apple means quality, is here to stay, and wants your money :)

A week before the store opened my dad was in NY, and he's a bigger Apple nut than I am (well, very close) so we went to see the giant glass cube, still covered in black plastic.

Then Sean was in town when the store was to open so we tried to get in and check it out. First we tried to go to the press event the day before the official opening. The security guards were nice and let us in with our Apple badges. But then some Apple marketing/retail person *very rudely* told us to leave and come back tomorrow for the normal opening. And then she laughed as we walked away. Hmmm, don't we make the products that make this store even possible?

Anyway, I was able to get some good photos of the cube from close up, with no people crowded around it. The next day I wasn't planing on going to the opening, until my friend Meena called and said it was *crazy* and I had to check it out. It's a quick train ride away so I headed there and saw the masses of people, winding around the block waiting to get in. It was nuts.

That night we were out partying late, since Sean was in New York only for one night. At 4:30 we were about done for the night, but Sean had until 7am before a train to Jersey. So where to spend that time? At the new 24 hour Apple Store! We were able to get in easily, though the store itself was still very crowded. After re-hydrating by the water fountain, I got some cool photos of the cube from the inside.

Here are the photos