museum
ANOTHER VISIT TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Last summer I wrote another post on the American Museum of Natural History .
I returned to the museum , which takes up 3 blocks of Central Park West from 78th to 81st streets in New York City, to see some exhibits that I didn’t see the first time.
This being New York , where everything is big and spread out , there was a lot of things that I didn’t see.
Monkeys, history of peoples, dinosaurs and Theodore Roosevelt Hall were some of the things that I didn’t get to see the first time .
As I’m not a fan of the satellites and planets, the world famous Hayden Planetarium wasn’t on my list of things to see.
I didn’t see the planetarium the first time, so why would I want to see it now and get really bored?
No, thanks, I’ll pass on that solar system thingy.
The dinosaurs with the names that I can’t pronounce is more my speed.
There was one exhibit with a raptor or some other tyrannosaurus that was so big and long that its head stuck out the door.
I don’t think that I need to tell you that selfies were in full effect and I wasn’t the only one taking a selfie with what ever this animal was.
This section was full of little schoolchildren, who were confused as to whether they were in a playground or a museum.
I knew it was time to move onto another area of the museum so I went to the Theodore Roosevelt Hall, which is on the first floor and named after the former president who was one of the first American politicians who was interested in conservation .
This is one of the museum’s that all those travel guidebooks say that you must see while you’re in New York City .
They aren’t wrong.
A VISIT TO THE KING MANOR MUSEUM
Not many Americans know of Rufus King and his family, but they should .
Not many New Yorkers know of him, either and they definitely should .
Rufus King was one of the members of the Continental Congress , which met in Philadelphia right after the Revolutionary War .
You might say that he was one of “the Founding Fathers ” as he also signed the constitution as a member of the New York delegation.
He was a United States senator and an ambassador to Great Britain under three presidents, Washington , Adams and Jefferson .
He was an outspoken critic against slavery.
The house, which is now a museum, was the home of Rufus, his wife, Mary, and their five sons, one of which became the governor of New York .
The house, which began as a farmhouse , was brought in 1805 by Rufus.
It stayed in the family until 1896, when his granddaughter , Cornelia , died.
The city of New York took over the property and in 1900, the house became a museum .
There is a guided tour of the house, which I advise that you take, as the guides are friendly and very knowledgeable about the house and the family .
You’ll see artifacts that the family did actually use such as the piano in the parlor , which still works.
You’ll also see the delicate and very elegant tea set that belonged to Elizabeth King , another granddaughter of Rufus.
Her portrait is on the second floor of the house as is the drawing room belonging to her uncle John who was the governor of New York .
The house is decorated in period pieces, even the kitchen.
While I did enjoy looking at how the servants prepared food, my favorite room had to be the dining room, where the Kings probably entertained guests .
There’s even a portrait of Mary hanging in the dining room which should tell you who exactly was the boss of the house, and it wasn’t Rufus.
There is a suggested admission price of $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and students, but the main focus of this museum is for you to experience a time in history that you thought you knew about, but realky didn’t .
The museum also has lectures , which are free to the public.
The museum is easily accessible by taking the E train and getting off at the last stop, Jamaica Center and Archer Avenue .
From there , you walk down to 153th Street and Jamaica Avenue.
The museum is right there , in the middle of Rufus King Park.
What is now Rufus King Park used to be part of King Manor as well.
It was that big .
King Manor Museum
Rufus King Park
Jamaica Avenue and 153rd Street
Jamaica , Queens, New York
Monday – Friday 12pm -2pm
Saturday – Sunday 1pm – 5pm
The museum is opened from February until December and closed the entire month of January .
A VISIT TO THE FORT PITT MUSEUM
As I was walking through the city, I came across this museum, which is part of the Smithsonian, and the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh .
It’s the Fort Pitt Museum and it sits right where the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet.
It wasn’t on my list of places to see while I was in Pittsburgh , but the beauty of traveling ,whether you’re doing a 30 Plus Teams Tour or not ,is discovering places that weren’t on your list and weren’t even mentioned in a guide book.
The museum sits right under one of the many bridges that seem to line this city.
There are 446 of them by the way.
The bridge that’s near the museum is the Smithfield Bridge.
I paid my admission and went to explore this museum which tells the story of Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War , long before there was even a United States .
I discovered facts about the city that I wasn’t even aware of , even though I was a history major in college .
As you enter the first floor , right in front of you is a diagram of Fort Pitt, and what would become the city of Pittsburgh.
You also find out about the different Native American tribes in the area and which tribes sided with the French and who sided with the British as well as the Native Tribes who didn’t side with either the French or British.
Not surprisingly , many tribes didn’t trust either the British or French.
You can take pictures on the first floor only but not on the second floor of the museum , which is too bad, because there are a lot more interesting exhibits on the second floor , not to mention the really gorgeous view that you have of the Smithfield Bridge.
But because the artifacts are so delicate, it’s easy to see why they dont want you taking pictures on this floor.
On the first floor, you get to see how soldiers and ordinary citizens lived during this time.
There’s even a portrait of George Washington, who was a member of the Virginia Regiment of the British army.
It was Washington who was sent as an envoy by the British to ask the French to give up the Fort .
Since war came later, you can only guess what the French response was.
Besides the artifacts on the second floor, you get to learn who the major players were for the French, British, Americans and Native Americans .
I was surprised to learn that even back then, Benjamin Franklin was involved in helping the British.
How this would change many years later.
You also learn how after the French and Indian War, and even the Revolutionary War , nothing was resolved with the Native American tribes, and bitterness of some of the tribes seems to linger even until this day.
You might not want to spend that long a time at this museum , but believe me , if you want to learn about some unknown United States history and you happen to be in Pittsburgh visit the Fort Pitt Museum .
Fort Pitt Museum
601 Commonwealth
Plaza Building B
Point State Park
Pittsburgh , PA 15222
Open daily 10am-5pm
412-281-9284
A
dults $7
Seniors 62 years and older $6
Youth 6-17 and students with valid ID $3.50
Retired and active military $4
Children 5 and under Free
START SPREADING THE NEWS – NEW YORK CITY , NEW YORK – A VISIT TO THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM
This is one of the many museums in ” The city that never sleeps “, that not a lot of tourists know about , maybe even a lot of New Yorkers as well.
This museum has been around since 1961.
Admission to the museum is free, but there is a suggested donation price of $10 when you enter.
The museum is closed on Mondays , but open on Tuesday through Sunday .
It’s located at 2 Lincoln Square , which is on Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets .
Even though the museum is called The American Folk Art Museum , it focuses on art, manly quilts , that weren’t mass produced , but mostly made by ordinary people like you and me.
I other words , people who were what the museum calls , “self-taught . ”
On the day that I visited , the museum had an exhibit called , “War and Pierced”, which were quilts made from, of all things, military fabrics , especially from uniforms .
This exhibition continues until January 7, 2018.
I was amazed at how beautiful and colorful some of the quilts were.
Some of them were done, not by women, but men, many of whom were injured during war time.
If you happen to be in the New York City area, visit this little known museum .
American Folk Art Museum
2 Lincoln Square
(Between 65th and 66th Street and Columbus Avenue )
New York City , NY 10023
212-595-9533
Tuesday – Thursday 11:30am- 7pm
Friday 12 pm – 7:30pm
Saturday 11:30am- 7pm
Sunday 12pm- 6 pm
HELLO CHARM CITY – BALTIMORE , MARYLAND . THE BABE RUTH BASEBALL MUSEUM IN PICTURES .
While on my annual 30 Plus Teams Tour of Baltimore, I visited a museum that wasn’t on my bucket list .
It’s the Babe Ruth Baseball Museum.
Most baseball fans know that Ruth played for the Boston Red Sox and especially , the New York Yankees .
But what a lot of baseball fans didn’t know is that he was born in Baltimore, not far from where Orioles Park at Camden Yards stands now.
If you happen to be a baseball fan this is one museum you should visit while in the Charm City.
There’s an easy way to get to the museum if you happen to be staying at the Hampton Inn Downtown Convention Center or you went to a game at Camden Yards .
Follow the 60 baseballs that are on the sidewalk .
60 is the the number of home runs that Babe Ruth hit in case you didn’t know .
START SPREADING THE NEWS – NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK – THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The first thing one notices when you walk into the American Museum of Natural History isn’t the huge statue of President Theodore Roosevelt right in front of the building that takes up four blocks or so on Central Park West .
It’s the two giant prehistoric animals getting ready to do battle right in the middle of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall .
This museum , which is one of the largest Natural History museums in the country , is also the home of the world famous Hayden Planetarium .
If you happen to be visiting New York City not only for your own 30 Plus Teams Tour , but just because this is New York City after all , this is one of the museums that you should visit , especially if you have children .
The museum is easy to get to by public transportation and two New York City subway trains , the B and C trains , stop right at the museum .
There’s even an entrance when you get off the subway at the Lower Level .
The museum is open daily from 10am until 5:45 pm .
The suggested admission price for adults $19 and for children ages 2-12, $10.
Before you pay, though , you’ll be asked if you wish to visit just the museum or do you wish to see the Imax Movie , special exhibits , plus any shows at the Hayden Planetarium .
If you want to do all of this , more money is added to your admission price .
$14 more for the adults , $10 more for the children .
If this sounds like a steep price to you , keep in mind that in effect , you’re visiting two museums .
The Hayden Planetarium tells you everything you wanted to know about the planets and solar systems .
Given the fact that we recently had a solar eclipse , the Hayden Planetarium was one of the busiest places in the museum .
The museum itself has four floors and is quite spread out , so please be sure to pick up a floor plan before you go into any of the exhibits .
Otherwise , you will be hopelessly lost like I was , and I did have a floor plan .
The planetarium isn’t the only exhibit on the first floor , but the child in you will love the Hall of North American Mammals .
On the day that I visited the museum , besides reading the quotes from President Roosevelt that were on the wall as you walk in and being mesmerized by the two prehistoric animals battling it out, I really enjoyed the exhibits on in the second floor , which just didn’t have the Hall of African Mammals , but also the Hall of Peoples .
There were exhibits on peoples from Mexico , South and Central America , Asia and Africa .
I was really fascinated by the customs and traditions , and I would say that this was my favorite section of the museum .
I didn’t think that I would enjoy my visit to a museum about dinosaurs , rocks, and the planets , but I was wrong .
This museum is so much more than that .
The inner child in me really liked looking at all the prehistoric animals , and trying to pronounce their names .
There was even a section on the birds of New York State and for some reason the exhibit that seemed to have the most children , and their parents oohing and just seemingly enjoying for some strange reason , was the one called , ” Rodents of New York . ”
Don’t ask, I couldn’t look at it without getting sick.
You might think an hour visiting this museum would be fine .
Wrong , try three hours at the most .
There’s a lot to see, but leave the selfie sticks at home or back at the hotel or hostel .
Security will tell you when you first arrive , that selfie sticks aren’t allowed anywhere in the museum .
There are so many museums in the city to visit .
Make the American Museum of Natural History a must see on your next trip to New York City . 
