Day 23 and a Night at the Museum

Well it wasn’t really night time but I like the way that sounds.  New York City is home to the American Museum of Natural History.  The first time I had a chance to see it was in the movie Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller.  Sure enough, the giant dinosaur skeleton made famous in the movie stands in the entrance hall to great the visitors.  I’m not really sure but I think he winked at me when I walked in!
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This museum has a very cool admission policy that allow everyone to visit without worry about the cost.  For adults, general admission is $16 but with their “pay what you wish” program anyone can enter for a s little as $1.  Considering the enormity of the exhibit and the obvious expense to maintaining the building and artifacts, that’s pretty remarkable.  $1, $16 or somewhere in between, the price of admission is well worth it.
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There are over 20 huge history filled exhibit halls to choose from in the museum!  I started with was the “Asian Animals” hall.  The plaque on the wall at the entrance said this exhibit was debuted in 1930.  As I walked around, I tried to take myself back to a time when there was no television or internet…when the average person would only be able to see a small handful of creatures like this in a zoo.  There are hundreds of species on display (safely behind glass unlike the movie), from cute,  tiny birds to intimidatingly large animals like the Asian Tiger or the Guar Ox.  The Guar stands taller than I am in heals and a few pounds heavier - like 2,000 or so.  Each animal is displayed in a setting similar to what their natural habitat would look like with detail about where they are from and how they lived.  Even with all of the information and images we have access to now, the displays were still interesting enough to draw me in to read and study each one as I walked through the room.  In 1930 this must have been a thrill to the imagination and a truly mind expanding experience.
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The next hall in my path was the “Asian People” exhibit.  It’s impossible to write about everything I learned here.  It’s a virtual time capsule of thousands of years of history.  Here’s one interesting fact I’ll share.  Apparently as far back as 7,000 B.C. people in Mongolia would travel to Lake Tsagan Nor to seasonal homes along the dunes to hang out by the water and enjoy the warm weather.  WHAT A CONCEPT!  I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same. LOL
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Seriously though, by the time I had finished the second hall two hours had passed and I thought my brain was going to explode.  It would be easy enough just to quickly stroll through the museum, take a look at everything as you whiz by and feel like you’ve polished off another New York gem in a couple of hours but so much would be missed.  So I left while I still had enough fresh brain cells left to guide me home.  I’ll come back and do another room or two next week.  I’m lucky I’ve got the time to take advantage of all this wonderful place has to offer.  Maybe next time I’ll stay after dark and see if dino want to play - fresh guy!