I will get to that. You have survived the first two days of my 3-and-a-half-day adventure in New York to visit my daughter and son-in law. But the last full day was a big one.
The kids were working, so my wife and I jumped on the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Nothing feels more New Yorky than riding the subway.
I don’t see how that can be the world’s largest store, but the day before, while Jason and I were at the museum, my wife and daughter had gone there, and they were pretty excited about it.
My wife and I went to the Empire State Building. That is a model of it, right after it was built.
The thing is… (hey thing, I hope you aren’t afraid of heights)… that if you go to the Empire State building as a tourist, they have turned it into a freekin’ Disneyland ride. That is a fake elevator shaft. Yo walk out onto the glass, and it feels like you are hanging over infinity. I did the same thing at the Eiffel Tower, where the drop through the glass is real, but this was just as scary.
And above you, it goes up to a fake nowhere.
As you make your way up the building, between elevator rides, you are funneled through these weird exhibit rooms. That is me, helping the guys build the skyscraper. The walls of the rooms are showing movies of life-sized workers.
Cranes are hauling huge iron beams around.
The boss is yelling at the workers. There is a lot of banging and hammering.
Other guys are tossing red-hot rivets to guys who catch them in leather buckets, and give them to the men who rivet the building together. It is really well-done and sort of awesome. A great photo op.
There are lots of old photos to look at.
The King Kong room is fun, since the building was a big part of the old movie.
Her keeps moving around, looking at you through different windows. When he exhales, the widow steams up.
Behind an old desk, biplanes are flying around, shooting at King Kong, while he bellows his rage.
It is crazy.
And everybody had to get a picture of their friends and family in the giant ape hand that was smashed through a wall.
Pouring My Art Out 
I suppose it makes sense to turn the Empire State into a tourist attraction; at least this way it pays for itself and won’t be torn down any time soon. And fun is good. But… -shrug- Maybe one day they’ll restore the building and just use AR to project the touristy stuff over the top of it. Then, if you wanted to just feel how it might have felt you could turn the AR off. Maybe.
The tourist part is totally separate from the regular, everyday business part. And it really is well done. Not hokey at all.
Ah that’s a relief. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see it for myself, but I didn’t fancy the Disney version. 🙂
Well, the view was worth the rest of it.
Yeah, I can see that. 🙂
Yup.