We left Philadelphia around 10am, ready for a long-anticipated event: The implosion of the National Tower in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Our plan was to drive to Carlisle (about 30 miles outside Gettysburg), check into our hotel, relax a little while, and set out for Gettysburg. My family and I packed lunch for the trip, some clothes, and finally, the video camera.

Upon arriving at our destination about three-and-a-half hours later, we checked into our hotel and reclined for an hour or so, watching TV and playing cards. Finally, around 2:30pm, we left with the video camera and drove around Carlisle, past my dad's law school and where my parents used to live.

After that, we headed towards Gettysburg. We drove for a half hour or so, then suddenly caught sight of the doomed tower off in the distance. Seeing it was somewhat sad, since we had been to the tower several times before on our trips to the famous Civil War battlefield. However, it was pretty exciting too, as once we got into the city crowds were already forming. We made a quick stop at a Seven-Eleven-type store to pick up a case of ginger ale.

Now it was time to stake out our vantage point. We drove around the city, seeing many crowds (there must have been a thousand people on the streets alone!). Photographers positioning camcorders, parents pointing the tower out to their kids, and people sitting on the curbs drinking water, doing nothing. This was the first time we caught a close-up glimpse of the structure, which looked really eerie. The two-story observation deck loomed over the National Cemetery, a huge, gray, vacant shell standing against the gloomy sky.

After driving around some more, we made a unanimous decision as to a viewing location. There was a little grass area along Taneytown Road - about 1000 yards from the tower - where hundreds of people had already taken their place with cameras, picnic baskets, blankets and other implosion-watching paraphernalia. Since this was the closest unobstructed view we could find, it was an opportunity that we could not pass up. After parking the car in a nearby lot especially set up for the occasion, my family and I began walking, armed with a camcorder and cans of ginger ale.

Upon reaching our viewing area, we set up the camera, plopped down on the grass, and just waited for the next hour or so. While waiting, there was one couple we met who traveled all the way from Maryland to see the spectacle (my guess is that people came from all over the country to see it, given it was such a high-profile event). They were a nice couple, and they said that they'd been there since 2:00pm. As we continued to wait, thunder rolled in the distance, as if to foreshadow the impending doom of the tower.

As D-time - 5:00pm - neared, we counted off the minutes, my dad checking his watch every few minutes or so. 4:40...4:50...4:56...4:57...4:58...4:59... At this point, the thunder was much closer, and we wondered if the blast might be postponed until the storm passed.

Suddenly, at 5:00, there was a quick surge of people toward the front of the crowd, cameras in hand. It was time. We heard that the plan was to have Civil War re-enactors fire cannons at the tower just before it went down, as if they were knocking it down themselves. I stood there, my heart pounding in anticipation like a hammer, with my fingers in my ears. Two more long minutes went by…

Then, at 5:02, there were muffled pops and booms in the distance. The first round of cannon shots had been fired. We got ready, and our video camera had been recording for some time. Thirty seconds went by. Then…BOOM!! A closer cannon shot. Ten seconds went by. Then, an ear-piercing KABOOM!!! Definitely dynamite. The crowd reacted with murmurs, and we waited as the tower lingered.

Slowly, the tower sank down like a hula dancer, with the metal framework at the top bowing out like a ribbon…the structure toppled to the right, continuing to move like a hula dancer… down… down… down… finally crashing to the ground. Gettysburg Tower was no more!

Man, was that quick! But it was AWESOME!! Thousands of people erupted into cheers, myself being one of them. After staring at the small cloud of smoke where the tower had once stood, we collapsed the camera and headed for the car. Along the way, we encountered people saying things like "How cool was that?!" and "Boy, that went fast!" There were also people replaying the destruction on their video cameras.

We walked rather quickly to the car, trying to avoid both the huge thunderstorm and the huge line of traffic that was to follow. Although we arrived at our car just in time to avoid the downpour, we were not as fortunate in avoiding the traffic jam, which we sat in for more than an hour.