New York and Philadelphia

Central Park, NYC

September was another busy travel month. We visited New York, Philadelphia, Ireland, and San Francisco.

It had been seven months since I had been back in New York and almost a year for Darren. Seven months was the longest stretch I'd gone without a trip in five years so even though I was enjoying my time on Maui, I had some really itchy feet again and a bad case of "island fever".

We had two great excuses for the excursion. The first was our friend's wedding in Philly and the second was our niece's Christening in Ireland. So off we went.

New York was busy, crazy, and noisy as usual. Aaah! it was good to be back!

Darren proudly shows off
 my Butterfly sculptures

Darren and I stopped in at the Bronx Zoo to visit some of my old coworkers at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). WCS owns and operates all of the New York City Zoos which includes the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and the New York Aquarium. Their headquarters is at the Bronx Zoo.

September is a really nice month to visit the zoo because the weather in New York is fantastic. Also, because September is the quietest month for zoos and museums since kids have just gone back to school and most field trips won't be planned during the first month back to school (this varies depending on where you live. For example, kids in Hawaii return to school in July so therefore July would be a quiet month for museums). We pretty much had the whole park to ourselves and I got to show some of my exhibits to Darren.

That's me standing under
the sign I designed for
the Madagascar! exhibit

Darren tests out my
 "Threats to wild dogs" interactive

Two weeks later we were having our breakfast in Ireland and heard on the radio that someone leaped from the monorail over a sixteen-foot fence and into the tiger enclosure. The tiger did nothing wrong so I was relieved to learn that the man was rescued and the tiger did not have to be put down. The tiger was just defending his home which is what anyone would do if they had an intruder.

There was also a tornado while we were in New York. People seem to think that I attract earthquakes just because I coincidentally seem to be in every country where earthquakes have occurred but this tornado dispels that theory. I attract all types of natural disasters without discrimination.

After a wonderful and hectic week visiting friends, we headed off to Philadelphia on the Megabus. This was my first Megabus experience and since our tickets were only five dollars I set my expectations really low. I was very glad to discover that my preconceived ideas about the Megabus were completely off. It was an immaculate, air-conditioned double-decker coach bus with a bathroom and televisions. The reclining seats were very comfortable and the bus wasn't even half full which was surprising since some tickets cost only one dollar. I'm still trying to figure out how they stay in business. I was expecting a packed rickety old bus with diesel fumes blowing in the window and a lot of motion sickness but the Megabus was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone.

Philadelphia, PA

It had been a few years since my last trip to Philly (you can read my older post here: On the road again). I was sent there for work so I didn't get to do all that much but did get to check a few things off the "must-see" list such as the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall. This time we were in Philly for our friends' wedding which was at the Franklin Institute, a brilliant venue for this museum couple.

My first time visiting the Franklin Institute was on a field trip in the fourth grade. This was also my first time ever visiting a hands-on science museum and it was there where the spark was ignited and my love affair with museums began.

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA

The reception took place on the roof with the beautiful city of Philadelphia as a backdrop. The cocktails were served amidst the Giant Heart, Electricity, and Changing Earth exhibits so in addition to being delicious (there were mini cheesesteaks being served!) it was the most entertaining and educational cocktail hour ever.

Darren learning about electricity in his muscles

The reception was set up in the main lobby where we danced the night away under the Franklin Memorial. It was a really fun and unique wedding. We had a fantastic time and I think Ben Franklin did too!

Ben Franklin attending the wedding reception

Please check back soon for another post about Ireland and a new post about San Francisco.

In the meantime, you can read some of my older posts about Ireland and New York.

Pompeii comes to Times Square

Earlier this month a friend and I visited the Pompeii Exhibit at the Discovery Museum in Times Square.
First, we were brought into a room where we watched a short movie that gave an overview of what Pompeii was like before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When the movie concluded the doors swung open and we were led into the exhibit which had displays of artifacts that have since been unearthed. Many of the artifacts were still in pristine condition. Because they had been encased in volcanic ash for over 2000 years, they had been protected from damage by the elements and remained virtually unchanged. This part of the exhibit introduced visitors to the history, culture, and lifestyle of the people of Pompeii, giving a glimpse into their everyday lives.

Once we had worked our way through the entire room, a docent announced that there was another movie to watch which would be played every five minutes. She said that visitors should make sure they took their time to see everything in the exhibit before viewing the movie because once you went into the theater there was no coming back. At this point, my friend asked me if I thought this was the mid-way point or if the movie was the end of the exhibit. I said that it would be very unusual to put another movie right at the mid-way point of the exhibit but I later found out why.

We stepped into the movie theater and the doors closed behind us. The lights went out and the screen lit up showing a view of Pompeii as if we were standing in the middle of the city looking out onto Vesuvius. The ground began to rumble and smoke started to come out of the volcano. The movie continued to depict what the eruption would have been like, revealing a sped-up time-lapse of the eruption and increasing temperature reading. Then smoke began to fill the room and the screen went dark. Suddenly, the doors swung open to the next room. This room, which was hidden from the first half of the exhibit, was dark and somber and had casts of human bodies that had been encased in the volcanic ash. At this moment I realized why they chose to put the movie at the mid-way point. Pompeii before Vesuvius erupted and Pompeii after Vesuvius erupted. Well done.

This part of the exhibit was extremely moving and powerful. The casts showed so much detail that you could see the folds in their clothing and the fear on their faces. While conducting excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains. These were spaces left by the decomposed bodies and so a technique of injecting plaster into them (today resin is used) was developed to perfectly recreate the forms of the victims in the moments just before Vesuvius took their lives.

The room was black with just spotlights on each cast and there were curtains with colored lights dancing around on them. I'm not sure what they were trying to do with this effect. Maybe something to do with the afterlife? The lights were a bit cheesy and it would have been much better off without them. Whatever effect they were going for really didn't work on me or my friend. But overall this was the best part of the exhibit.

That room then led out to another room. At this point, the exhibit got a little too long. The room had even more artifacts and a timeline of Pompeii's history. There was a ton of reading to do and it became exhausting but I really did enjoy seeing all of the artifacts. My friend was amazed at all of the glass bottles that were left completely intact. It was most fascinating to me to see the everyday objects like the hairbrushes and mirrors and cooking pots. It reminded me that these were people living everyday lives just like myself and they and their entire civilization were frozen in time the moment that volcano erupted. Their whole city became a giant time capsule that has now allowed us to learn so much about what life was like 2,000 years ago. After seeing the technology they created such as medical instruments, pots that filtered water, and an aqueduct that provided water for more than 25 street fountains, at least four public baths, and a large number of private houses and businesses, I imagine how much more they could have invented and how advanced they would have become had they not been wiped out.

It's unfortunate that more people haven't chosen to visit this exhibit but it seems that Pompeii is doomed with misfortune and has found itself competing with the Discovery Museum's extremely popular Harry Potter Exhibit next door. I personally think it's a wonderful thing that this exhibit was developed so that we can learn about this once forgotten civilization. In a way, this exhibit has brought Pompeii back to life.

I love the Library!

Not all exhibits are located in museums. In addition to being fabulous resources for all ages, libraries often have some great exhibits as well as many other enriching activities and programs. My favorite library is the New York Public Library located between 40th and 42nd Street on 5th Avenue. The library sits adjacent to Bryant Park which also happens to be my subway stop so I'm literally underneath, above, inside or outside the library every single day.

On Monday nights in the summertime, you can watch a free film on the lawn. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can attend a free yoga class-- even the mats are provided. If yoga is not your speed they even offer knitting classes!

You can also get food and drinks at the outdoor bar and restaurant behind the library while listening to live piano music, knitting and watching a film. Or you can listen to an outdoor book reading while knitting and watching 600 people do yoga. You can do all that without ever even stepping foot inside the library but inside there's even more exciting and stimulating things to see and do.

They offer free guided tours every day but you can also explore the exhibits on your own. The Wachenheim Gallery focuses on the history of the library and has clips of movies and TV shows that have been filmed at the New York Public Library over the years.

The Celebrating 100 Years exhibit is best known for featuring the Gutenberg Bible but it contains so much more than that. You will also find Sumerian Cuneiforms, a Tale of Genji scroll, a handwritten manuscript by Jorge Luis Borges, one of Malcolm X’s journals, costume designs for the Ballets Russes, and even dance cards and board games.

Those two exhibits are ongoing but they also have several other temporary exhibits throughout the year. Currently, Children's Book Illustrators and Authors Come Alive and Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends: The Original Toys. You should also explore their special collections which include The Manuscripts and Archives Division which houses over 29,000 linear feet of archival material in over 3,000 collections. The George Arents Collection on Tobacco is a comprehensive collection of the history, literature, and lore of tobacco. Additional collections are The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle is one of the world's leading repositories for the study of English Romanticism. The Photography collection comprises approximately 500,000 photographs, including examples of almost every photographic process from the earliest daguerreotypes to contemporary digital images, The Print Collection has over 200,000 prints, and The Rare Book Division has approximately 130,000 titles. The Spencer Collection surveys the illustrated word and book bindings of all periods and all countries and cultures.

If that's not enough to keep you occupied, they also offer many programs and films for adults as well as children. The Children’s Center at 42nd Street features on-going public programs for kids and their parents. From intimate readings to large-scale events, programming includes storytelling, musical and theatrical performances, spoken word performances, and guest appearances by authors and illustrators.

The New York Public library also has a General Research Division, Art and Architecture Collections, Jewish Division, Periodicals Room, Map Division, Microforms as well as U.S. History, Local History & Geneology.

Lastly, you can also get your hands on some free music, e-books, audiobooks and believe it or not, the library still carries those old fashioned books printed on paper.