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| - My husband and I had a great time visiting the Museum of Natural History for several hours on a Saturday. There were a fair number of people there when we went around noon, but not so many that movement around the exhibits was restricted or there were lines forming anywhere. We rented a 50-cent locker to store my purse and our coats, but they also have a serve-yourself coatroom so you don't need to carry your coat throughout the museum. It is generally warm throughout the exhibits, so don't overdress.
While there were a lot of very interesting collections (plenty of mounted bugs, animal exhibits, and rocks), by far, the best part is the dinosaur fossil collection. What I learned is that many museums simply have casts of dinosaur skeletons, but this museum has many, many actual dinosaur fossils on display. Further, most specimens had charts near them that laid out whether the fossil was real, a cast, a sculpture or some combination. It was so interesting and well laid out. So much to learn!
At one point we were accosted by a tour guide who was roaming around the dinosaur exhibits. While I was initially confused about how we had invited a guide, she actually was super nice and contagiously enthusiastic. She told us a lot about the exhibits and how some had been acquired. After about 10 minutes of one-on-one conversation with us, she took off to go guide a tour. It was really nice to see that the tour guides weren't just gathered in a break room between tours and out interacting with the museums guests. Really, really great to get that personal attention without having to ask for it.
Overall, an informative and fun way to spend a few hours. Perfect place to take kids or a date!
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