It's the end of June once again!
A few weeks back, I managed to go back to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC for the first time since 2013!
I actually remembered to get off at this station this time. I remember overshooting by a stop the last time I was there.
Got to see this guy in person again.
Had to go see the dinosaurs!
Then went to see the cool exhibit on elephants. The highlight being this lifelike wooly mammoth model.
And it taught the difference between mammoths and mastodons. It's mostly in the shape of the tusks and the skull.
Even got to the exhibits I wasn't able to see last time, like the famous big blue whale model.
The night mode on my phone camera is unreal. That diorama is completely dark (and it's why it's the only one in the museum not behind glass). This is the famous Squid & The Whale that inspired the movie of the same name.
I love this shot. There are a LOT of dioramas at this museum, and all of the animals are real taxidermy. They're posed in such a way that you're sure that they'll come to life the moment you're not looking at them.
And speaking of which, here's good ol Teddy Roosevelt, waiting for Ben Stiller to have some fun after closing.
I almost forgot about this display that added disclaimers about the horrible racist inaccuracies that made headlines with the "everything is woke" brigade a few years back.
And since the last time I was here, they opened the Gilder Center, this really weird looking atrium that has neat exhibits on every floor.
On the bottom floor was an Insectarium. There were lots of neat models and displays of mounted insects, but there were...plenty of live ones.
Gonna admit, bugs creep me out. Not all of them, mind you. If they're tiny. I'm fine with them. But if they're like, the size of my finger, that's when the anxiety goes into overdrive.
And when you're at the Natural History Museum, you have the get the dino nuggets. And they give a good amount for how much they have the audacity the charge you for...
But this is what I went there to see! They renovated the Halls of Gems & Minerals a few years ago and I finally got to see it!
The thing about that day was, for whatever reason, the museum closed two hours early and I was NOT aware of it. I didn't check out the entire hall on my first pass, so I ran back to it as quickly as I could to see the rest of it before they kicked everyone out.
Here's some pictures of it.
And then after I was shown the door, I took a few shots around the museum.
You don't get those shots every day.
And since it was right across the street, I took in a little of Central Park before it got too hot to stay outside.
And before I left, I managed to catch the giant dragon they put on the Empire State Building to promote House of The Dragon.
And now I realize I had a completely different plan for this month's entry. Guess I'll wait until next time?
