Second Day in New York City
In the morning I head out to Long Island to pick up Gregory who had spent the last few days with my sister. Determined to drive properly in the city, I mapped out my route paying special attention to one-way streets on my map. Whoops, I didn’t realize Broadway only went south! I was going to head north on that. I just left and already I was driving in circles. I was heading to the Queens-Midtown tunnel. After the initial fiasco it was all going great. I was flying up First Avenue. There was a sign for the tunnel where I got in line to turn left and get on. I was waiting 45 minutes from that point to get onto the tunnel, one block away. People were cutting in. Finally it was our lanes turn to move. The man in front of me kept getting cut off and allowing it to happen. He seemed very non-aggressive and unable to move even when it was his turn. Finally he had a green light and the other cars were letting him in (shock!). I assumed he was going to go so I started to go. He stopped and I tapped the back of his bumper. He then got out of the car and told me I had a problem and called me an obscenity. I was so stunned that I did not say that I did not bump him on purpose. He assumed I bumped him on purpose! Honestly, I cannot imagine. I am sure he is blogging right this minute about the maniac who hit him while entering the tunnel.
I made it back to the hotel with NO MISTAKES, no wrong one-way streets, very smooth sailing. I felt like and NYC driving pro. Gregory wanted to go to the Museum of Natural History. We hopped on the subway, Gregory did great with the steps and I had been rather concerned. The subway arrives underground directly at the entrance at the basement of the museum. I was expecting to walk a few blocks to the entrance so that was a real treat. I paid a reasonable entry fee of $43 for the 4 of us to get in.
There are 4 floors of exhibits and like 40 rooms. We started in Dinosaurs. Gregory was off his rocker with joy.
I was there last in Kindergarten, like uh, 40 years ago. Things are a bit different. All I remember is the T-Rex, so it was great that we began in the T-Rex room. But somehow it was not how I remembered it at all. The T-Rex looked vaguely familiar in a big, big way, but something was off. It turns out that they took him apart, one piece at a time, a remounted him on the ceiling. His tail used to be dragging along the floor, and now it is up in the air, and looks like it could do some serious damage. About the time we hit the 3rd dinosaur room was when it started to hit me how immense this place is.
The Museum and Planetarium facilities consist of 45 permanent exhibition halls housed in 25 interconnected buildings, including the Rose Center for Earth and Space, totaling 1.6 million square feet on an 18-acre campus on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Yes, 45 exhibition halls. Each one JAMMED packed with unbelievable stuff. It is NOT possible to see it in one or two days. If I lived in New York, I would get a membership and take my time until I was done. Of the 45 rooms, we saw perhaps 20. Of those maybe only 5 in depth. And we were there for 4 hours. After I got home and did some research, I could kick myself for not going into the Hall of Human Origins. This is a brand new exhibit featuring Lucy and lots of ape-men and hominid ancestors.
After 3 hours of looking, we were starving. A sandwich at the museum cafeteria was $9. It was just a plain sandwich. In the interest of budget, I bought 2 sandwiches, 2 bananas and 2 drinks for $27.
There was a huge section of the Mark Twain tree with a historical timeline along its yearly rings. Foresters cut down this tree in the late 1800’s. It is 90 feet in diameter. It took 13 days to cut it down with a handsaw. The tree dates from 1300AD.
The taxidermy animals and birds were a lot more interesting than they might sound. Each species is set in a showcase glass diorama, with a background of its natural habitat. The birds, for example, are types you would never see in nature up close or in a zoo, so it is awesome to see them. Yes, the poor things are stuffed. They are arranged in unique and educational poses. There are about 500 of these. We really liked the “mammals of new york city” exhibit which featured stuffed bats and mice and rats of every size!
The new Oceans exhibit was 2 stories, with a LIFE SIZED blue whale hanging from the ceiling. The rooms went on and on an on.
Blue Whale
I have been to New York City so many times as an adult and it has never occurred to me to check out the Museum of Natural History. How could I be so stupid? It took Gregory to beg me to take him! I will be back on my next visit to see the meteorite and my ape men relatives.
Leaving the museum, we walked down Central Park West to Lincoln Center. The same architect responsible for SUNY Albany also designed Lincoln Center! Will wonders never cease. I took this time to ask a passer-by “How do you get to the Met?” But no one got the joke. After a bit, my kids finally got it, but the flower salesman didn't (never mind).
How do you get to the Met?
Then we took a cab to Times Square.
Times Square
At Times Square we met some rappers and they were nice but shysters. I bought 2 CD’s from them.
Shyster Rappers
We went into Toys R Us. Gregory was off his rocker with happiness over the giant dinosaur from Jurassic Park thing.
We went over to Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The to see the famous lions on the steps of the New York Public Library.
"Artsy" picture of St. Pat's
Library Lions
Then we walked back to Times Square to take the subway back down to Lower Manhattan. We rested in the hotel for about 20 minutes and then walked to the South Street Seaport for dinner.
Brooklyn Bridge from South Street Seaport
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