It's Thanksgiving, and that means the Chesslers are in L.A. AFter a bounteous feast at Mike and Mark's, always a highlight, we debated about a day-after-Thanksgiving activity. Benjamin decided for us - it was to be the LA Natural History Museum, near USC. First, brunch at Jack n Joes, with it's great food and atmosphere and ridiculously small parking lot (park in the back, not the front), then off to the museum.
The Internet has helpfully informed me that "The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural history museum in the western United States, featuring over 35 million specimens and a rich history dating back to 1913." The entry to the museum is new however, with a three story celestory featuring the bones of a 63-foot fin whale, acquired in 1926, and one of 5,000 marine mammal specimens in the museum's collection. More bones awaited in side.
Yes, the T-Rex exhibit is a must see, with it's baby, juvenile and young adult T-Rex's (the growth trajectory of these beasts is astonishing). But I was even more fascinated by the stegosaurus family, including the Einsourus with it's drooping horn.
I was most fascinated by the sauropod, the full length of which I could not capture in my late model iPhone, because I could not zoom out sufficiently. That's because this plant-eating sauropod was 70 feet long, about half of it neck! Picture two city buses nose to nose. As I understand it, this sauropod was found in Utah, and required a decade to excavate and assemble. They also had to build a separate room for it. National Geographic covered the whole story (Vol. 246, September 2024, available for purchase in the gift store.)
We also checked out the gem exhibit, which was pretty fascinating for a lot of rocks. Let me rephrase that - expensive rocks. The really expensive gems (shaped rocks) were in a vault, which gave them an extra special sizzle.
We finished our tour with a visit to the science lab. I was fascinated by the live rat exhibit, safely encased in plexiglass. The acrobatic rats had two habitats, connected by a transparent tunnel above our heads.
Great museum, well priced (just $18 for an adult ticket)! Check it out.
