# What famous thing surprised you when you saw it in person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 9, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608 "2005-03-09T01:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/241 "2005-03-23T03:09:47Z")
I think everything on my list has been mentioned, but here goes anyway… The \*\*Grand Canyon \*\* is really indescribable. In the literal sense, as in “I can’t describe it”. It truly must be seen (in person) to be believed. It’s so big that it defied all my attempts at comprehending it. \*\*Mt. Ranier \*\* is a beautiful mountain by itself. But what makes it so incredible to me is the view of the mountain from Seattle. There you are, anywhere in the city, surrounded by people, traffic, buildings, and you look off to the east, and… THERE IT IS. Towering over the city, looking like it might reach out and swallow you up at any moment. **Yosemite Valley** is another example of where pictures just don’t do a place justice. Ansel Adams did some absolutely fabulous work there, but nothing compares to the real thing. Standing at the foot of Yosemite Falls, looking up into the mist, is just breathtaking. Several people have mentioned the ocean. I have to agree, standing on the shore and looking off into infinity is awe inspiring. Particularly if that patch of shore is on the **Central California Coast**. The marriage of the sea, the rocks and cliffs, and the forest just behind is simply perfect. I’ve been to \*\*San Francisco \*\* more times than I can count, and I have no particular memories of any specific sites there; they have always just “been there” for me. But I think the view of the city from Berkeley, looking across the Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands, Alcatraz and Angel Island off to the right is the most beautiful cityscape in the world. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/242 "2005-03-23T05:44:32Z")
Well, there has to be one in every crowd… I felt let down when I first saw the Grand Canyon. I first saw it at sunset and my depth perception isn’t that good, but whatever the reason it didn’t seem that awe inspiring. That said, I went down the South Kaibab Trail the next morning before daybreak, and was awestruck when I saw what I was inside. On an entirely regional note, I drove to Indianola, Texas one night. The town was the major seaport and point of immigration for Texas before it was destroyed twice by hurricanes. I knew that there wasn’t much there, but I couldn’t find any record of the city. I finally found a fisherman who told me that the six-foot tall granite block I saw a mile back was the cornerstone to the courthouse; someone had come across it when doing some excavation. He also said that the locomotives that they left on the main pier were still in the bay and were sometimes visible at low tide. ---
**Author:** ![biscuithead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@biscuithead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biscuithead)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/243 "2005-03-23T20:25:03Z")
\Revolution Square Havana\<\b\> - I don’t know what I expected but I didn’t expect what looked like a huge parking lot with a bunch of poles with strung wires all over the place. One side has a huge picture - like 10 stories tall - on the side of the building, and on the other side, accross the street is the peace tower and statue which was neat. But the square itself - didn’t look very ‘revolutionary’ I guess. \The Ocean\ - coming from a prairie girl who saw the ocean for the first time at 17 - frightening, too unimaginable. \Glacier\ near Banff - totally unexpected colours - amazingly deep blues. I thought it would just be all white. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/244 "2005-03-23T20:40:48Z")
[QUOTE=DesertGeezer **The top of the Empire State Building:** I know I sound like a rube, but looking down on the city of New York from more than a thousand feet and still standing _ **on a building** _ just blows me away. I think I was about 35 at the time, but I was as impressed as if I were three. [/QUOTE] A friend of mine visited some relatives who lived on Long Island. When asked what he wanted to do in The City, he answered that a trip to the top of the Empire State Building was a fer sure. The snickered and snorted and tee-heed but took him there anyway. He could hardly get them down off it to go home. ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/245 "2005-03-23T21:14:36Z")
My grandpa’s parents homesteaded part of **Sedona** back in the day, so I got a chance to poke around it before the New Agers discovered it. It IS incredibly beautiful. What was unexpected though was the first time I saw Red Rock Crossing ([http://www.kenlevymedia.com/gallery/images/cards/RedRock.jpg](http://www.kenlevymedia.com/gallery/images/cards/RedRock.jpg)) off of the road closest to it. Beautiful view of the rocks, quiet, green, and right next to a trailer park. **London** blew me away by its sheer size. Hell, it’s almost as big as Los Angeles. I would’ve been completely lost without the tubes and the handy river running through the middle of town. **Scotland** is incredibly beautiful. What was unexpected was that driving down a Scottish road is basically sheep, sheep, CASTLE!, sheep. In terms of bad, really bad, there is the **Salton Sea.** I knew it wasn’t in the best condition, but it’s unbelievable how awful it is until you’ve been there. The shore is covered in dead and half-rotting fish and it SMELLS. The signs of a once-thriving tourist industry are all decaying, shot up and/or half underwater. There was hardly anyone there, and the sea itself was pitch black and reeked of chemicals. I don’t think there’s a more depressing place in the Universe. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/246 "2005-08-28T00:55:17Z")
I wonder if it is bad form to revive an old thread. I’m new around these parts. **The Space Shuttle** - I saw it ascend from a distance, and it was brighter than you’d think. It looked like a tiny magnesium flare. It didn’t hurt or anything since it was distant, but it was bright blue/white instead of the yellow you might imagine. **The NORAD Control Room in Cheyenne Mountain** - It’s nothing like the auditorium-sized rooms in Wargames or any of that nonsense. We took the tour and got to sit in the conference room looking down on the control room. There were blinds that they presumably would have closed if anything had happened. I was youger so my sense of scale might be a little off, but I’d say it was maybe the size of a classroom or two, but with high ceilings, about three rows of consoles, and screens up on the wall opposite the conference room. The whole place was neat, though they didn’t let us see the Stargate or SKYNET. **The Great Salt Lake** - Is horrible. When you walk on the beach, a WAVE of flies rises in front of each foot. The skies out West are stunning compared to the murky skies of the East Coast. It’s like getting a new pair of glasses. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/247 "2005-08-28T01:06:48Z")
> [@Guidelines for Posting on the SDMB](#): > > What if I want to continue / add to the discussion on a topic that was mentioned in an old thread? > > Start a new thread with a link to the old thread. A general guideline for “old” would be a thread older than **three months**. Says it all. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/248 "2005-08-28T01:10:14Z")
Welcome riker. Indeed bad form. I would say if it is more than 4 weeks old, let it be. hmm, let it be…sounds like a good name for a song… ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/249 "2005-08-28T01:11:56Z")
However, I just did a search looking for pictures of the NORAD control room, and it seems they have recently expanded it. It looks like they got rid of the conference room and whatever was under it. [News story about new control room](http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2005-03-10/news.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/250 "2005-08-28T01:27:44Z")
Well, this is one of the coolest threads ever according to some. I especially like it since I started it. I like **riker1384** telling about NORAD. I haven’t heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/251 "2005-08-28T01:36:28Z")
I haven’t been to NORAD, but I’ve been to CINCSAC (not called that anymore), at Offut AFB, and it’s pretty impressive. Just like the movies. Huge, deep underground, theater-sized screens, realtime video conferencing with people all over the world. Nifty stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/252 "2005-08-28T02:56:42Z")
> [@TJdude825](#): > > The Four Corners - where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona all meet at a single point. It was really not that impressive. It’s not really close to anything, as far as I can tell, and it’s very hot. There’s a little concrete platform, and right in the middle, there’s a metal plaque indicating where the borders are. There’s some flags, and little booths where you can buy various things. So you jump around a little. “Now I’m in Utah! Now I’m in Colorado! Hey look, now my head is Arizona, but my feet are in Utah! Wow!” Buy a shirt. Drive back to civilization. Via New Mexico, by the way. IIRC, you can’t approach it from any other state. When I was there first, the only people there was an (American) Indian family selling handmade jewelry. We played tag with their kids. There wasn’t _anything_ but the concrete pad and the little brass marker. There wasn’t anything to buy or look at. We were impressed because my dad’s enough of a geek to get excited by that kind of geographical oddity, but otherwise it was pretty underwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/253 "2005-08-28T03:01:36Z")
Wow, that’s what I already posted months ago. Sorry, mods/admins/fellbeasts. I am redundant, I am. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/254 "2005-08-28T04:18:17Z")
Well, since it’s already been bumped… Old Faithful - very underwhelming. Sure, it shoots a lot of water/steam really high, but…not that exciting. Wyoming as a whole was exactly as dull as I expected (to drive through, no offense to any Wyomingites). The Grand Canyon: Holy _crap_. It’s…a really, really, really, _really_ big canyon. Absolutely mind-bogglingly large in every dimension. Standing on the South Rim, looking down easily a few hundred feet - and knowing that _that’s not the bottom_, just a plateau. The St. Louis Arch: pictures do not do it justice, simply because they fail to capture the shininess of it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/255 "2005-08-28T05:05:57Z")
A tiger. I’d seen them in books and on screen of course. I’d even seen live ones in zoos. But then my buddies and I went to a strip club and the featured performer did a circus themed act. And she brought her tiger out on stage. How impressive is a tiger when there’s no cage between you and it? Impressive enough that nobody was looking at the naked woman next to it. Tigers are huge. It was bigger than a horse. Its head was about three feet across. It was pacing up and down the runway and you realized it could eat everyone in the room. Its tail was knocking drinks off tables. Tigers are BIG. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/256 "2005-08-28T07:27:33Z")
Disappointments: Hadrians Wall (or what’s left of it) and the Blarney Stone. Perhaps not a disappointment as I never expected much. As mentioned lots earlier, the WW1 Sopwith Camel and those style of aircraft are so tiny. Give me a Jumbo, or at least a 737. Moving: Westminster Abbey, and in particular, the Grave of The Unknown Warrior. The only grave on the floor that you are not permitted to walk on. Kings, prime ministers and clergy are fine. ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/257 "2005-08-28T16:01:12Z")
I was shocked at how big Central Park was when I went to NYC. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/258 "2005-08-28T16:18:22Z")
Hawaii - both good and bad. Some of the tourist stuff was just so tacky. Yet I saw some scenery, met some people and learned some things that will stay with me forever. The Smithsonian. I want to go back. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/259 "2005-08-28T16:39:39Z")
**A Concorde** just happened to be flying through our city one afternoon & I caught an unexpected glimpse of it - man, that thing was BIG. The **Vehicle Assembly Building** at Kennedy - amazing! In the '70s we were allowed to go inside as part of the tour. **The Grand Canyon** defies words. I’m also in the camp that enjoyed **Mt. Rushmore**. **Nike of Samothrace (aka “Winged Victory”)** is just sitting at the top of some stairs in the Louvre, in the spot where you’d stick a vase you didn’t know what to do with. OTOH, **Michelangelo’s “David”** is more awesome than I could’ve imagined. **Oprah’s** studio is tiny, and she’s nowhere near as warm as (but much smarter than) she seems on TV. **U.S. Hwy 1** (or is it 1?) north of San Francisco, much more beautiful than I ever knew. And fun to drive. **The Eiffel Tower** was breathtaking, so huge, so graceful. I didn’t expect to love it. **The Berlin Wall** was strange - a mundane wall. Rather drab. But the people sitting on either side, pondering it, those surprised me. **Dachau** was probably the most shocking. It’s in the middle of an ordinary neighborhood, separated by a tall fence. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608/260 "2005-08-28T17:20:23Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > **Dachau** was probably the most shocking. It’s in the middle of an ordinary neighborhood, separated by a tall fence. You saw this? _sits looking in awe and admiration at **fessie** _ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-thing-surprised-you-when-you-saw-it-in-person/293608.md?page=14)