I am obsessed with my two
and half year old nephew. I think he is the most gorgeous and genius person I
know. Some days more than others depending on what adults cross my path. On a recent
trip to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City even though he
was not with me, I found myself anticipating what he would think. He loves the
story of the “Three Little Pigs” and keeps asking his mother for a “big wolf”.
After I left the museum the only words that came to my mind were “big
dinosaurs”. That seemed
appropriate enough.
My last visit to this
museum if my memory serves, was probably sometime in high school. If it was
that recent we are still talking about at least fifteen years ago. Some parts
were vaguely familiar but on class trips there are limits to what you can see
and do. I definitely did not see as much as I did now and I was especially
excited to get to go to the Hayden Planetarium for the first time.
On the rainy Saturday I
ventured out on this excursion I had no real idea what I was in for. No matter how many times I looked at
the website I still only had that one mental picture of those two enormous
dinosaurs in the main lobby. That was it. I also underestimated how big this
museum is.
While there are plenty of
“stuffed” animals to see they weren’t really what peaked my interest. I mean
they are cool but after you have seen one dead, stuffed, cheetah or rhino you
have seen them all. I did like the gigantic herd of elephants in the great hall
though. You can look up at them on the first floor and then down at them from
the second. It is quite impressive.
I was really there to see
those dinosaurs. I never knew how excited I could be to see dinosaur skeletons
strung together or just how many this museum had. There were floors of them and
all new to me. I was just like a kid. I was there with my cousin and as we
casually browsed and separated we would yell out to the other anxiously when we
found something so absurd we had to share with the one another. Of course I was
equally thrilled because I was in a place where flash photography was allowed.
Ah, a perfect setting indeed!
It is amazing how long you
can look at bones for and still not grasp that they are real. We even took a
break at the café for a cup of joe. After about forty-five minutes or so we
were revitalized to start up again. It was like a maze and very crowded but
there was enough to see that you were not on top of anyone. That is very
important. I love being able to walk through exhibits at my own pace too. No
audio guides, not too much reading, just a simple explanation of what you are
looking at, and then just staring up in awe. Sometimes that’s all you need.
No matter how long I
looked or how many photos I snapped (and believe me I snapped a lot) I couldn’t
capture the enormity of what I was seeing. It is such an amazing thing.
Evolution and science are at their best when you can see it firsthand.
After admiring these wings
the only thing I wanted to do was to see the big scale model of one Theodore
Roosevelt, our former President. There is one of him on the outside of the
museum and many of his quotes in the main lobby. Teddy, as I like to call him,
was a great lover of nature and the animal kingdom. In face the first thing he
did after leaving office was to go on an African safari. But I did not get to see his statue in
his hall or rotunda as it was being remodeled. That figures.
My next move was to go to
the Hayden Planetarium since I had now walked through almost every other floor
and exhibit in the museum and was slowly loosing energy. The Planetarium is
connected and adjoined to the museum so you never have to go outside until you
are ready to leave. It had been my original plan to watch a film there but I
was beat and it was getting too crowded. So instead we just walked around and
checked out what was on display. After about thirty minutes there I was done
and ready to go. It was a long afternoon and I was beat. There is just too much
too tackle all at once but I think I did a very good job. There are constantly
new displays sprouting up all the time so there is always incentive for a
return trip.
Now I guess I will have to
go back with my nephew to show him the big dinosaurs to see if he will be as
impressed as I was.
For more information on
the museum:
For more information on
Teddy Roosevelt:
He loved seeing the pictures you sent and yes "big dinosaurs " are as good as the big wolf.
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