Last weekend mom and I and a few of the kids took a trip into NYC and the AMNH. As is usual on a sunny spring Sunday, the city was jammed. We drove in, because parking is pretty easy at the museum and also at the Marriott Marquis, and I like the idea of being in control – ha. The passengers in my vehicle may have had a different experience. I am a people watcher through and through – and there were thousands of interesting people to… watch. Driving and watching, unless we’re talking street signs and signals… don’t mix when every two seconds you need to make a decision.
Anyway! We’re still here to talk about it. What a feeling it is… to look at the same exhibits I first viewed 40 years ago – (did I just say that?) And of course there were new exhibits, as the museum rotates special ones out periodically.
As you enter the museum at it’s main entrance, a statue of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback greets you. Standing on either side of him are an American Indian and an African American, meant to symbolize the continents of Africa and America.
The buildings and the architecture in this part of the city… with Central park at it’s core.. is just beautiful.
The Dakota, a residence just down the road, also flanking Central park.. is just one example.. quite a history if you’re not familiar with it… also the place John Lennon lived and was shot in front of. If I had to live in the city, which I love but would never want to inhabit… this is where I’d like to be, although my finances beg to differ.
Inside the museum… We walked through the butterfly exhibit, which houses thousands of different species of butterfly…
And viewed the same stuffed animals I saw as a child myself… staring through their glassy eyes at the millions of visitors who pass before them for many years now. Funny thing… my son had a look on his face and shook his head slightly… I knew exactly what he was thinking, cut from the same cloth, you see. ” Dead animals”. “They were killed just to be stuffed and mounted here for decades. Whole Families!”… said he. Sad fact… the Black Rhino is among them… now.. extinct.
Museum Selfies…
The Dinosaurs are truly amazing and the museum has quite a collection, I’m guessing the largest available.
A new exhibit is the Titanosaurus…via the museum website… ” In January 2016, the Museum added another must-see exhibit to its world-famous fossil halls: a cast of a 122-foot-long dinosaur. This species is so new that it has not yet been formally named by the paleontologists who discovered it. Paleontologists suggest this dinosaur, a giant herbivore that belongs to a group known as titanosaurs, weighed in at around 70 tons. The species lived in the forests of today’s Patagonia about 100 to 95 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period, and is one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered.
The remains were excavated in the Patagonian desert region of Argentina by a team from the Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio led by José Luis Carballido and Diego Pol, who received his Ph.D. degree in a joint program between Columbia University and the American Museum of Natural History. One of the 8-foot femurs, or thigh bones, found at the site is among five original fossils on temporary view with The Titanosaur.
To stand next to this baby is hard to describe… see the size of the folks in the picture? Godzilla comes to mind.
The Hayden Planetarium is a sight to behold – no pictures allowed while viewing.. on the right is a self sustaining living sphere, whos eco system works in harmony so that no outside influence is needed.
Outside in the park, people, dogs, horses, cyclists, joggers, enjoyed the good weather with spring in the air. We illegally fed pigeons pieces of pretzel while two of my people strolled in the park – they are in the V of the tree, do you see them?
After our museum visit we drove to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square and mom treated us all to a delicious dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top – The View. The elevators go up 45 floors…traveling very fast, it was a scene out of Star Trek, I’m telling ya.
It takes about an hour for the room to revolve completely, so the view changes as you dine.
A good day was had by all.