The trip was fantastic. The drive involved very light traffic, which is rare and really pleasant when driving into San Francisco. We arrived before 9:30, found a perfect parking spot (right next to the stairs up to the Academy of Sciences), and went and got tickets to get into the California Academy of Sciences (which I'll abbreviate CAS for the rest of the post).
We had enough time to line up and go see the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. It's in a massive plexiglass globe that's kept hot and humid. I nearly died, since I hate those conditions, but it was worth the oppressive conditions to see the plants and animals. Near the lowest level were two gorgeous macaws that make a tremendous amount of noise (you can't hear it outside the globe). No flashes are permitted in the exhibit, so some of the pictures aren't great, but if you live close, go see them.
We saw and photographed more than I wanted to upload and post, but I'll show a few things. The globe is filled with beautiful smaller birds, incredible butterflies and small enclosures with rain forest creatures living in them.
Spawn loved it, and posed at the top for a picture.
Once we got through the Rain Forest, it was time to rush over to the de Young Museum. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs was amazing. You're probably aware Tutankhamun really was a footnote in history and we'd probably never hear his name except that his tomb was discovered undisturbed by grave robbers, so we have a ton of artifacts from it, and they're incredible.
The first six galleries of the exhibit take you through the history leading up to Tutankhamun's brief reign. The artifacts are amazing, and text presentations on the walls put them in historical context. You can't take pictures in the exhibit, and there's too much to post anyway, but I found this tour preview. I'll post a few of my favorites since the link will probably eventually expire.
This little shrine was amazing:
The craftsmanship on all the items we saw was remarkable. Doing all of it by hand kind of boggles the mind.
Many of the artifacts were carved from stone and decorated. Here's an example of a jar that probably held cosmetics.
The last four galleries were artifacts from Tutankhamun's tomb. It's hard to describe, because it's so much information and so much to see.
The actual sarcophagus and death mask are not on tour anymore--Egypt declared them national treasures and too delicate to move any longer, so they're on permanent display in the Cairo museum, I believe.
They do have videos of them including details you'd never get close enough to see in a physical exhibit anyway. They do have a coffin on display that contained his liver (evidently he got better than the standard canopic jar).
Bubbles was impressed by the falcon pectoral piece that was on the mummy's chest in one of the layers.
The reason it's so impressive is how thin it is. The gold must have been carefully beaten to an almost delicate thickness and then decorated. You can't tell that from the pictures, really.
I was impressed by the inlays done in the gold, wood and stone.
Some of the stone statuettes are in incredible states of preservation. I can't believe a wooden artifact can last that long. Naturally if flesh can, wood can, but it's still a bit of a surprise. Egypt's dry environment and the preparation work by artisans yield remarkable results.
I'm a boy, so of course I was interested in the ceremonial dagger buried with the mummy.
We spent about an hour going through the exhibit. You could easily spend longer, but Spawn wanted to get back to the aquarium at the CAS, and we got a good look at all the artifacts, so we moved on.
After grabbing lunch and eating in the park between the museums, we headed back into the CAS.
We spent some quality time down in the aquarium, which is really nice. It's not the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it's still impressive. Spawn loved it.
Mostly I got pictures of the back of her head as she admired various tanks, but here's one where she turned suddenly as I was taking a picture.
Pictures don't do the tanks justice. My camera's not very fancy and I think solutes in the water make the images much less impressive than what you'll see during a visit.
Also, you're not allowed to use your flash for many of the exhibits. So, unless you have an amazingly steady hand, you'll end up with a blurry image.
The African Penguins exhibit was probably Spawn's favorite, and it was actually a lot of fun to watch them. The runner up would be the albino alligator. If I heard staff correctly, his name is Claude. Here are my amateur shots of him:
Spawn needed one of her own. Here's the CAS photo of Claude:
Here's Spawn's alligator, which she decided was female and named Alana.
Startling resemblance, wouldn't you say?
Alana is Spawn's new favorite:
Uh, kid? The pillow's for your head, not to showcase your new favorite animal.
We wandered around the exhibits and enjoyed them, and finished up with a showing of Journey to the Stars in the planetarium. It's not for those who get motion sickness. Bubbles just about chundered, but I really enjoyed it. Sit toward the upper/middle if you can. We were near the bottom and had to do a lot of neck craning, but it was a great show nonetheless.
After a quick trip to the living roof, we were done. It was pretty to see, but I mostly appreciated the cool fresh air.
We went over the Golden Gate so Spawn could see it (it was my first time crossing it, too, though I'd seen it many times, naturally). That proved to be something of a mistake as we headed up Highway 37. Near the Napa/Sacramento split, traffic got awful. It took us 3 hours total to get home, but at least the scenery was much nicer than getting stuck in say, Richmond.
Yesterday was fun and memorable, hopefully for Spawn, too!
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