We had already made arrangements with our friend Josh for Monday, and we were really looking forward to it. We caught the train to the American Museum of Natural History, one that everyone said we would really enjoy. We arrived early and waited outside until ten—when they allow the museum patrons to go in. My sister and I were the first in line. Then, we found Josh, who had also caught the train there. We meandered around the museum, rather aimlessly at first, spending more time talking about funny stories and our jobs than the actual exhibits. Even then, however, we saw some fascinating Native South American exhibits (including a large boat carved from one log) and a tapestry woven from naturally golden-colored spider silk (that I’d recent. Museums can kind of be a weird environment socially, however, and you’re never quite sure what you’re looking at, which is why I was thrilled when I found out the museum offered a free highlights tour every hour.
We met our tour guide at 11:15 and I was surprised more people were not on the tour (I would say there were 20 of us tops) which was just as well. Our tour guide did not tell us her credentials, but it was evident that she was a scientist or, at the very least, a professional science educator of some sort by the easy way she explained very complex scientific ideas, her wealth of experiences and her body of knowledge. At one point in the tour, we discovered that her parents frequently brought her to the museum as a child—and her enthusiasm was evident. We began with astronomy; we learned about the magnitude of the universe and how our solar system works. Aside from the wholly incomprehensible and annoying section on the “Big Bang Theory” (narrated by a recording of Maya Angelou by the way) it was fascinating. I especially like the part on the star Beteljuice. Next up came human origins. It was by far my least favorite part since it was rife with evolutionary theory. But, what I found faith strengthening was that on numerous occasions, she would explain how evolutionists would have been confident on some aspect of evolution and then have their ideas completely disproved. That no doubt happens in all branches of science sometimes, but, without going into too much detail here, the scientific puzzles included how microbial life could exist under circumstances that it seemed life should not be able to (deep ocean), or how perfect the conditions are for life on Earth (but not in any other discernible galaxy), or why humans didn’t evolve linearly and how they are the only genus (hominids) on earth that there is only one species of (e.g. – there are 200 species of primates). If you believe in Creation, these questions are not nearly as confusing. From there we studied biodiversity and how natural and man-made forces affect ecology. Seriously guys, this section is worth the price of admission alone—incredible. The animal models and specimens of rare, large and small creatures are astounding. My favorite was an actual, real-life ice core that they kept frozen in the museum, under glass, that had rings (something like a tree) that scientists have used to investigate weather conditions going centuries back. We saw a lot of things, and I can’t really tell you all about it here, but I highly recommend that museum.
Then we left to investigate (reasonably-priced) food options and found a place a few blocks down. The options were limitless, the service was fast and the food was great-tasting. We sat and talked and ate for a while before deciding to take a stab at Central Park nearby.
It was my first time visiting the park. Despite the cold temperatures, there was a significant amount of people walking, riding bikes, rollerblading and even jogging. One thing that stands out in my mind is a statue of William Shakespeare, which we agreed was probably there because of the Shakespeare festivals they hold in the park during the summer months. There was also a Bethesda fountain based on the biblical story. The fountain and the nearby…almost like an outdoor ballroom were beautiful, although the statue bore absolutely no resemblance to the bible story as I recalled it. Regardless, there was a bride and her wedding party taking pictures there. There was some body of water and ducks nearby and I imagined the pictures were going to be stunning. I also really like the statue of Alice in Wonderland. Soon it was four o’clock and we got in contact with our other friend who agreed to meet us at Rockefeller Plaza in an hour or so.
We caught the train to 30 Rock and gave them our tickets to the Top of the Rock. This was something we kind of thought of about a week before we left and I was glad we did. It seems simple enough (go to the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and look out over New York City), but they did a really good job of making the entire trip up educational and entertaining. There was a mural that told the story of how Rockefeller Jr. thought to build a monumental office building during the Great Depression (a huge gamble) and employed much of New York City at that time and how, although he didn’t like popular entertainment, decided to take a chance on RKO studies, which first broadcast radio programs before moving on to broadcast television. As they say, the rest is history. Tom Brokaw narrated a short film on the history of NBC and then there was an elevator ride up to the 67ish floor. The ceiling of the elevator had a mini-show as well. Soon enough we were at the “Top of the Rock”, which is stunning at night. You see all the major NYC buildings: MetLife, Toshiba, Empire State and others that I probably didn’t even know I was looking at.
As we got off the elevator, there Dana was waiting for us, and we went to all the exclusive shops (read: we bought nothing) in 30 Rock. The most entertaining—by far—was the NBC gifts shop that had Dwight Shrute bobble head dolls, “It’s not lupus” mugs, Buy More T-shirts, Parks and Rec paraphernalia, and just about anything else that fans of NBC shows would get a huge kick out of. We headed outside a bit and watched the skating at Rockefeller Center.
Soon, the night came to a close, we said our goodbyes to our friends and New York, and we went home to pack for the real trip ahead of us.
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