NYC Trip – Day 2

Today’s agenda was the American Museum of Natural History & the Rose Center for Earth and Space. We had a late breakfast at the nearby Pax cafe, then we took the subways across, then uptown, all the way to 81st St.

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Our visit to the AMNH

After a quick picture, we were surprised to find such a long line to purchase admission tickets. Yowza! What gives? Then I was reminded today is Veteran’s Day and kids have off. Doh! Talking to one of the fellows selling annual memberships and hearing about the perks, including a speedy trip through another ticket desk, we purchased a Family membership, good for 12 months. Josh and I both love the AMNH, so we don’t mind coming back repeatedly.

For a year, $125 gets us:

  • Unlimited complimentary general admission and special exhibition tickets for one or two adults and up to four children under the age of 18
  • Four adult and 8 child complimentary seasonal live-animal exhibits or IMAX films
  • Unlimited member discounts on Space Shows, additional IMAX films or live animal for two adults and four children
  • A one-year subscription to Rotunda, our Member’s magazine
  • 10% discount on Museum Shop purchases
  • 15% discount on Museum restaurant purchases
  • Discounts on selected Museum educational programs
  • Invitations to special exhibition previews for your family
  • $125 of this membership is tax deductible

We also got a nice (and free) children’s book on dinosaurs for Joshua. Pretty good deal overall, I think.

Once we got in, we moved on up to the 3rd floor to see our first included movie, the IMAX documentary “Tornado Alley.” Pretty interesting. Afterwards we hit the 4th floor prehistoric animals exhibits — seriously, could I deny Joshua his favorite period of history?

We had lunch in the cafeteria, then bought additional tickets to see Journey to the Stars, a 30-min film narrated by Whoopi Goldberg about stars. Josh and I saw this film last year, but it’s pretty enjoyable, and Nums apparently likes these kind of films. Color surprised, because I had no idea after all these years. I should record more space-themed documentaries on television.

The kids were getting tired, and we decided to call it a day after only a few hours. It was already 4pm, and there was no point in exhausting the munchkins. Besides, we can come back any time we want in the next 12 months. We took the subway back to the hotel to relax for a bit, freshened up, then met up with our friends Doug & Kathy downstairs in the hotel lobby.

On the menu tonight? Japanese! After some consultation, I made reservations at Tenzan nearby on 2nd Ave. I ate here with some friends earlier this year, and the food was excellent. Since then, I’ve been wanting to take my wife here as she also appreciates good Japanese cuisine. Dinner was very nice, no issues, and we stopped at a nearby cafe for a late night dessert before parting ways. Great day, I think.

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Dinner @ Tenzan. See if you can pick out the sourpuss.

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