The secret stairwell

So! A little over a week ago, I was at the Johnson Museum at Cornell. I always enjoy going there, but ... there was one little thing that was bugging me.

For years I'd been hearing about the fantastic views from the fifth floor of the museum. About how you could see for miles from the windows of the fifth floor, the fifth floor, the fifth floor.

And I? Could not figure out how to get to the fifth floor.

The Johnson Museum has three levels of exhibit space - a lower level, a ground level, and a second floor, connected by staircases. And while it was obvious from looking at the museum from the outside that it had more than two above-ground stories, none of the interior staircases went past the second floor. So where WAS this mythical fifth floor?

On my last visit, I decided to find out. I decided that I WOULD find out how to get to the fifth floor. I decided that if I couldn't find the stairs myself, I'd ask somebody. Even that grumpy gum-chewing guido guard, if I had to.

So! I was poking around the second floor, looking for staircases, when I rounded a corner and ended up in a little nook with ... a door. A door with a sign saying "Stairs to Fifth Floor - Asian Art - Feel Free to Use Stairs - Push to Open."

Ta-da!

I pushed open the door and started climbing. These stairs were obviously not meant for the public - there was all kinds of exposed piping and venting and coiled-up fire hoses - but shit, the sign said "Feel Free to Use Stairs", and dammit, I was gonna use those stairs.

So! I finally came to another door in the stairwell marked "Fifth Floor - Asian Art" and pushed it open. I walked around a corner and

Yep. Those are some views, all right.

Now I've just gotta figure out how to get to the third and fourth floors. I'll bet there's a time machine and unicorns in there.