Last Saturday, we decided to blow off chores and do something New York-ish. Since it was rainy and blustery we decided on the American Museum of Natural History (you might recognize it from such films as Night at the Museum). Another couple from our ward went with us, which ended up being a really good thing since they knew what they were doing. The place is enormous! And such a weirdly laid out maze that if they hadn't been with us, I think we might still be trying to find our way out of the Hall of North American Sea Birds!
Our favorite exhibit was the dinosaurs. They were displayed in gigantic halls with stark white walls and floors, pristine glass, and shiny metal accents. The juxtaposition between ancient and modern was really striking.
Another thing that stuck out to us was how different they made the place look for the movie. They cut together different parts of the museum to create a whole new interior. For example, the lobby in the movie is a combination of the 1st floor lobby, with the ceiling from the rotunda on the floor above it, and the desk from the subway entrance lobby in the basement. The Easter Island head is in a completely different, incredibly hard to get to spot, and of course the T-Rex is actually in the exhibit I just described above. So even though you still see a lot of the things they used in the movie, you don't really feel like you're in the same place which I think would have been a bummer if we hadn't already been told that in advance.
Rhys loved everything (as usual) except for when I took him to see a T-Rex jaw bone up close. When I leaned forward to let him touch the teeth, he acted terrified for the first time in his life. He wimpered and clung to me really tight. I gave him a second, showed him how fun it was for me to touch them, and then tried again. This time he burst into tears and started shaking and heaving and twisted around to bury his face in my shoulder! I was so surprised I didn't know how to react. This kid has never shown fear about ANY new experience. I took him away and got him calmed down, then David took him back again and he seemed ok and eventually reached out and touched it. We're still not sure what caused it. It wasn't bigger than him, and it wasn't even attached to a head or body. It was only the lower right half of the jaw mounted on a wall, so there wasn't even any context he could have picked up on (even if he was usually afraid of big things, or animals, or whatever-which he isn't). The only thing I can think of is that he's starting to get a little clingy with me lately, and it was really crowded in there, so maybe he felt like I was going to pass him off to a stranger or something? Anyway, he got over it, and so did I and everything else went really smoothly.
We only saw about 1/10 of the exhibits, but we hit all the main ones. Since we went near the end of the day with little kids, we were pretty glad we knew the New York insider tip about the "suggested donation" fee. Most of the museums here are completely funded by the state. However, they still ask for an exorbitant suggested donation, which they pass off to unwitting tourists as an admission fee. So if you don't know any better, they'll just ring you up at the ticket counter for $15-20 bucks/person. In actuality, you can pay whatever you want and most New Yorkers go with $1/person. We had to laugh when we looked at our receipt which actually showed a $30 charge minus a $28 discount.
Anyway, it was really fun and we're glad we postponed those piles of laundry and dishes!
