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The boys and I went to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences yesterday otherwise usually referred to by me as The Dinosaur Museum. Wow has this museum come a long way since I started going to it in the old building back in the early 90s. I still remember how excited everyone was over the new Fossil Lab in the then new building. Now, in April, the Nature Research Center will open one block over and be attached by a fancy walkway. Should be exciting!
My daily is an Emerald Tree Boa. I could not resist their green skin and pose and spent some time trying to get just the right shot.
If you've never been to Raleigh, you might appreciate the view of downtown from the south side:
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It's a relatively compact downtown, and there have been quite a few revitalization projects which have done a good job keeping the city looking nice and creating a safe environment to be out and about in.
Since I've been to the museum many times over the years and taken tons of photos, I really tried to take some shots at some new angles yesterday and/or do different pp. For example, here's an HDR of one of the whale skeletons, I believe a blue whale, that hang from the museum ceiling:
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Seeing those skeletons reminds me of going to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History when I was a little girl. I hope to take the boys to Washington, DC to go to the museums there some day soon. I was telling Joey of all the dinosaurs that he would be able to see there. I dream of spaceships too:-)
Speaking of skeletons and dinosaurs in particular, here is a collage of some of the other exhibits:
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This museum boasts of having the only dinosaur with a heart...Willow. That's the top right picture in the collage.
Johnny loves this huge earth, and I got down low today to include the words 'North Carolina' in the picture.
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I wasn't satisfied with any of my butterfly shots in the conservatory yesterday. This is the best I got of a Blue Morpho:
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I was a bit humbled yesterday to learn that Owl Butterflies and Blue Morpho Butterflies are not the same thing:-) They do look similar, but Owl Butterflies have one primary Great Horned Owl looking eye while Blue Morpho Butterflies have a lot of smaller eyes. I won't be confused again at least:-) You know the old saying...learn something new every day.
A couple of other shots that I liked:
This is an educational 'toy' in the Nature Discovery Room. I found myself entertained by it. The staff member supervising the room joked with me about it being fun for all ages:-)
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The typewriter below is from the office of one of the original museum scientists. They have an area showing how scientists used to work and then another showing how they work today. A computer replaced the typewriter. They need to update the exhibit to show an iPad or at least a laptop as it has an old clunker desktop:-)
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The octopus below is part of the museums older specimens collection. This would make a great Halloween shot! I had to do it in B&W!
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The shot below is from a play area in the Nature Discovery Center. Johnny sat in this area for some time playing with stuffed animal ocean birds and shells. I remembered our wonderful day at the shore on Monday...
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Who can resist this cute bee?!?
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Joey asked me to take this shot:-)
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The picture below shows that there is still a lot of work to be done to get the new wing open by April! I wish the glass on the window in the Nature Discovery Center had not been so dirty and had so much glare.
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We'll be headed to the North Carolina History Museum across from the North Carolina Natural Sciences Museum later today. I am not as familiar with this one.
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