The next day, the Aldens decided to avoid the coffee shop. Instead, they ordered breakfast from room service. Jessie called downstairs and placed their order. Soon a waiter wheeled in a table with their food.
After enjoying juice, milk, and a basketful of warm cranberry and banana muffins and sweet rolls, they were ready to go. Grandfather told the children which bus would take them to the Empire State Building and which bus would bring them back to the hotel.
“I’ll meet you here around dinnertime,” Grandfather said, “and you can tell me everything you saw.”
The Aldens stopped at the Grants’ room to pick up Bobby.
“Ready?” Henry asked.
“Yes, I am!” cried Bobby.
“All last night he kept talking about how excited he was to be going to the Empire State Building,” said Mr. Grant.
“Me, too!” cried Benny.
“Have fun!” Mrs. Grant called as the children left.
The bus stop was just a block from the hotel, and the children didn’t have to wait long before a bus arrived. Grandfather had given them tokens, and they each slipped their tokens into the fare box as they got on the bus. There were three seats together in the middle of the bus, so Benny, Bobby, and Violet sat down, and Jessie and Henry stood, holding on to the metal rail over their heads.
When they reached Thirty-fourth Street, Henry rang the bell, and the bus stopped right in front of the Empire State Building. They got off the bus and then stood on the sidewalk, staring up at one of the tallest and most famous buildings in the world. Standing right below it, they couldn’t even see the top.
“I thought a lot of the buildings here in New York were tall,” Benny said, his eyes wide. “But this one is really tall.”
“Sure is,” Bobby said. “I can’t wait to get to the top!”
“Let’s go!” said Benny eagerly.
The older children smiled at the two excited boys. Henry led the way inside.
The lobby was quite large, and the walls and floor were covered with marble. There were lots of elevators and shops, and at first the Aldens weren’t sure which way to go.
“ ‘To the Ob … observ …’ ” Benny tried to sound out the sign on the wall, but it was too difficult.
“Good try,” said Jessie. “ ‘To the Observation Deck’.”
A short line of people curved back from a ticket booth, and the children went to wait at the end.
The line moved quickly. After they had bought their tickets and picked up some pamphlets with information, the children followed the people ahead of them to an elevator.
Soon they were shooting up to the top of the building. The elevator went so quickly that the lighted sign over the door counted off the floors they passed by tens: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 …
“Hey!” Benny said. “My ears are popping like they do in an airplane.”
“That’s because we’re going up so high so quickly,” Jessie explained.
60, 70, 80 …
At last the elevator doors opened, and they were on the 86th floor. Benny and Bobby were the first out onto the observation deck, which ran all the way around the building.
“This is great!” Benny said. It was a clear, sunny day, and they could see for miles in every direction. The city lay spread out before them: rows of small buildings looked like toys, and tiny buses and cars moved along the streets. People were so small, the children could hardly see them.
“We’re facing north,” Jessie said. “See, there’s Central Park. I think I can see our hotel.”
“What’s that building over there?” Benny asked, pointing to a tall, beautiful building.
“That’s the Chrysler building,” Henry said, checking his pamphlet.
Off to the west, the children could see the Hudson River, alongside which they had driven into New York, with New Jersey stretching out on the other side. On the east they could see another river, the East River, with several bridges stretching across it.
“That’s Brooklyn over there,” Jessie said. “And look! There’s a plane taking off at the airport!” Beyond Brooklyn they could see the ocean.
To the south, they could see the tip of the island of Manhattan and lots of skyscrapers in an area Henry said was called Wall Street. “Those two really tall buildings are the World Trade Center — the Twin Towers. They’re even taller than the Empire State Building.”
“Wow!” Benny said. He could hardly believe it.
Jessie pointed out the Statue of Liberty, in the harbor beyond the Twin Towers. It looked very tiny.
The children walked around the observation deck, looking out at the city from all sides. There were even telescopes that you could look through for a quarter, and each of the children took a quick peek.
When they had seen all they wanted to, the children went inside and took another elevator up to the very top — the 102nd floor. Emerging from the elevator, they found themselves in a tiny room. There was no outside deck here, but they peered out the windows at the city below, now even tinier.
When they returned to the 86th floor, Benny said, “May we get a souvenir?”
“Sure,” said Jessie. The Aldens selected a small model of the Empire State Building and a postcard to send to Mrs. McGregor. Bobby bought a pencil sharpener and eraser shaped like the tall, pointed building.
“Should we take a bus back?” Jessie asked when they were back down in the lobby.
“Let’s walk for a little while and look around,” Violet suggested. “When we get tired, we can get on the bus.”
“Good idea,” Henry said.
“What about if we get hungry?” Bobby asked.
“I think you and Benny are going to be good friends,” Jessie said with a laugh.
“I’m hungry already,” said Benny.
“How about a hot dog?” Henry suggested. “There’s a vendor on the corner.”
The man selling hot dogs was wearing a bright blue apron. He stood behind a metal cart topped by a blue-and-yellow striped umbrella. His cart held a steaming pile of large, soft pretzels covered with salt. There was also a pan of roasted chestnuts, which the man stirred with a long spoon, turning over the nuts as they browned. Hot dogs were cooking on a small barbecue. Bobby and Benny decided to share a hot dog with lots of mustard and ketchup. Henry got a hot pretzel with mustard, and Jessie and Violet each had a packet of roasted chestnuts. They walked as they ate, enjoying their snacks.
“Be careful not to drip mustard on your clothes,” Henry told Benny and Bobby. But the boys were having too much fun eating and talking to listen. |