San Diego Museums

San Diego is full of museums, many located in Balboa Park.  We visited two, the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the San Diego Natural History Museum (one for me and one for Lee).  We did not visit the San Diego Zoo on this trip, which I love, primarily because of cost.  Admission is now $42 per adult.  Even the discount packages are expensive.  We will visit the zoo another time, since I am sure we will return again. 

I will start with the aerospace museum.  We learned that this museum was largely destroyed by fire in 1978, and had to be rebuilt from scratch.  Most of the airplanes in the museum today have been donated since 1978, or are reproductions of originals.  It is a colorful place.  The first two photos are of WWI planes.  The red airplane in the background is a reproduction of the plane flown by the infamous Red Baron:

Included with the newer jets is a Blue Angels aircraft:

 

I apologize for the lack of detail in my exposé.  I am better at identifying birds than airplanes.

Okay, on to the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM).  I found the museum interesting because it was evident that it faces the same issues as the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia (ANS).  How do you draw people into exhibits?  How do you explain the current research of the scientists that work there?  What is the relevance of their work to today's society?  How do you let visitors see what goes on behind the scenes? 

First off, the SDNHM has a transparent entrance, a modern feature turned into an integral part of an older structure.  Planners came up with a similar idea for the Academy in a recent project, although it has not yet been applied:

 

Inside, the entrance opens up into a large atrium.  A grand stairway at one end leads upstairs:

 There had been talk of exposing behind-the-scenes activities at ANS by putting up glass walls in the research areas, so visitors could watch scientists at work.  At the SDMNH,one glass window has been installed in the Entomology Department, so the concept has been applied on a very small scale:

Many items are exhibited in small display cases in a traditional manner.

Large skulls:

Tiny skulls (from lizard and snakes).  I like the horny toad skull the best, in the center:

Here is a simple activity that kids (and adult kids) seem to love:

On the top floor are the entries for an annual photography competition.  I'm glad I wasn't a judge - too hard!  There are some truly spectacular entries.  Sorry - visitors are not allowed to photograph the photographs, so this is as close as I dared to get: 

 

There is an exhibit case of live beetle larvae cleaning a specimen.  (Young boys would love this one!)

There is the obligatory dinosaur section, which included models that can be touched by little hands:

Dioramas are not behind glass.  How do they keep these free of dust??

Everyone likes fossilized nautili, right??

In the basement is a mineralogy exhibit which relates extensively to the geology of southern California and especially the area around San Diego.  There are some beautiful specimens.

The egg below, à la Fabergé, is perhaps 20" high.  In the center is a reproduction of San Diego's Balboa Park carousel, built in 1910.  The music box that is the base of the piece plays the carousel's music.

Look at these - fossilized shells replaced by the components of opals.  Aren't they beautiful?  Isn't nature amazing?

The next post will be of Tucson, Arizona, and spring in the desert.  It was 86 degrees today, perhaps hotter tomorrow.  But no worries - it isn't humid, so is not uncomfortable. : )