Roosevelt Island

This is not part of my adventure but this showdown was awesome!

So on Sunday I bonded with nature again.  My partner in crime/nature Aliea was in town, and she had suggested we go to Roosevelt Island.  Neither of us knew much about it, but Aliea had some friends who had gone before.  We went out there with Maggie the dog, and it was surprising how quickly we were able to get there.  Roosevelt Island is only open for foot trails, so there were no bikers to run us over.  There were not a ton of people there, which was nice.  The island had many different uses before becoming a park-it was inhabited by Native Americans and then had belonged to George Mason’s family and then it was a Civil War refuge.  The park had plaques around the trail that described interesting thing about nature.  I didn’t realize how a fallen tree actually contributes to nature and wildlife, and how stone turned into soil.  The park had a long wooden bridge that crossed the swamp; we saw cattails, but no swamp like creatures, which was preferable.  I told Aliea that if we saw any snakes I would be terrified.  It was really neat, there was a path to the water and when we went out we were able to see right across from Georgetown Waterfront, and we could hear the music. 

We ALMOST left the island before seeing the monument of Teddy Roosevelt.  It was really nice, there were bridges and a humongous statute of Roosevelt.  There were columns that had different quotes about nature, youth, and statehood.  The lawyer in me really liked the one about statehood =)  The island was really nice though, it was small and uncrowded, and even though it was 97 degrees outside you could barely feel it since we were under the shade.  The only time it was hot was when we went on the water.  It took us about two hours to get around the island, so it was a nice but quick trip.  I would definitely go again.    

Natural History Museum

On Saturday my plan was to go into work and do some overtime.  However I heard that the power was out in my work building so I could not go in.  Hence, I decided to go on an adventure.  I felt bad that I had not gone to the Museum of Natural History yet, so I figured that was my next stop. Of course I chose to go on a Saturday when there was no power in much of the area, so the place was packed.  Nonetheless, I had a good time.  I started out in the Oceanic Hall, where there was this neat exhibit about Wright whales, among other things.  They are called "wright whales" because they were the RIGHT whales to hunt, due to their blubber and petroleum. 

After that I headed to the African Voices area, where they showed the history of different areas of Africa with the culture and the slave trade.  It was really interesting, and I got to see different artifacts and masks.  They had this interesting section on apartheid as well.  After that I headed to the Fossil Mammals section which was also kind of cool.  For whatever reason, there were a lot of sloths, haha!  The dinosaur section was of course packed, but I did really like it from what I could see.  Soon after I went to the Mammals Hall, which was also packed.  There was a lot of interesting facts about horses, zebras, and giraffes, which I liked.  The museum also had an interesting exhibit on the Chilean miners.  I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be down in that mine for so long!  The exhibit also showed the news cast of each of them coming up.

On the second floor there was an exhibit on Gems and Minerals, which was absolutely beautiful.  I thought of one of my best friend from college Sam, the geologist!  There were a ton of really beautiful stones, and they discussed the origins.  They talked about different mines around the US, one of which was Morefield Mines, which I went to in elementary school.  I got to see the Hope Diamond, very lovely.  I would have liked a better view, but it was packed.  There was a live butterfly exhibit, but it was crowded and you had to pay to get in, so I did not go through. 

 However my favorite section was the Human Origins area, where they had human skeletons and they talked about the different traits. Apparently you can tell the age of a skull based on the seams on the back and how far apart they are. They also showed two skeletons lined up together of different ages, and you could see how the bones were different and more aged. They showed how a human skull can be reconstructed to show a face, very CSI. It also showed the differences of ethnic origin in the skulls, which I thought was interesting.  They also tied in the bones to the ancient settlers in Jamestown and other historical figures.  That area I probably could have walked around for a really long time, if it were not so crowded and if I was not a little brain dead at that point. 

I am so glad I got a chance to go over there, even if it was a bit crowded.  I think it was neat that they had so many different exhibits that had mass appeal.  The museum was really interesting and I am glad that I can finally say that I've been!