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In response to
"You'll all be relieved to know I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. -- nm"
by
Mop on Evo
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Oh, that's because I was very much unimpressed by the American Museum of Natural History.
Posted by
Mop on Evo (aka rburriel)
Apr 4 '12, 11:05
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Perhaps I was spoiled by the Met, but they clearly did exhibits right. Well laid out. Well lit. An inviting atmosphere. There were a couple of exhibits like that at the AMNA, but it only served to highlight the failings of the rest. The exhibits were generally ancient and the plaques faded - some to the point that you couldn't read the text. And the floor plan is horrendous. Almost every wing dead-ends so that you have to double back. The areas are not well labeled, the labels that are hanging at intersections mostly don't have arrows so you get to guess... Left or right? Ditto for the staircases. You'll come across a staircase and wonder... Hmmm, where does this go? It's anyone's guess.
An absurd amount of floor space is dedicated to retail to the point where you can't get to some areas without going through a gift shop.
It's pretty much the stereotypical boring, stuffy museum that I thought went away long ago. But I guess that so long as the tourists keep coming, they don't have to change anything.
My suggestion is to check out the elephants in the African mammals exhibit right off the main hall, go to the top floor to see the dinosaurs, then the basement to see the giant blue whale. 30 minutes, 19 bucks. You're done.
On the up side, the place was swarming with ankle voters on field trips. I don't know if I just picked the wrong day, or if it's like this every week day, but it was fun seeing their excitement and wide eyed looks. The dinosaurs just blew them away.
Mop
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