Tag Archives: museum

Stay Spot. Stay….

December 2, 2018 rivergirl1211 17 Comments

The Fairbanks museum has something for everyone.

Samurai helmets?

And swords?

Check.

And for those who are as fascinated as I am with the rich history of Japan…

There were dinosaur fossils…

And mastodon obedience training manuals….

Somehow I doubt that turned out well.

There were more dead fine feathered friends..

And a display about sheep back in 1840…

Which begs for the old saying –

Vermont! Where men were men.

And the sheep were afraid.

Although from the look of the numbers, maybe the men should have been afraid.

The rotating exhibit was a collection of photography from rural Vermont.

They were quite good, but I won’t bore with you with photos of photos…

Except for this one.

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That was my reaction too.

I was beginning to rethink my “Isn’t Vermont a quaint place to live?” attitude. I mean, really? Who cuts off their wife’s hands, nails them to the barn door and then photographs them?

Who?

Slightly mollified, although vowing never to look at a muskrat the same way… we moved on.

Inching ever closer to the famous bug art.

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Yes, apparently it’s quite famous in these parts.

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And in case you just can’t wait till tomorrow’s post…

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Here are a few beauties to keep you company.

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(The bugs, not me.)

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You’re welcome.

More Fairbanks oddities….

December 1, 2018 rivergirl1211 20 Comments

As we made our way down the left side of the top floor of the museum, we encountered a replica of my Monday morning hairdo…

And an ~~outfit to wear on a Match.com date~~ entire coconut fiber set of armor.

Yes, coconut.

And fish skin. What’s not to love?

I’m not sure that puffer fish helmet would have deflected many blows, but it does have a certain punk rock era appeal.

And as I was oohing and ahhing over the Egyptian section…

I do love me some mummies and canopic jars.

(Not sure where to put your intestines after death? The ancient Egyptians gave a whole new meaning to kitchen canning.)

And then, I saw it.

Across the rail… on the other side.

Be still my heart!

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Could it be?

Yes!

A giant bug sculpture.

And an entire section of bug art!

Bug art?

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I could hardly contain my delight!

I wanted to run right over, but forced myself to breathe deeply and finish the rest of the museum first.

I know, I know.

Good things come to those who wait….

Move to Venus, lose 25 lbs.

November 30, 2018 rivergirl1211 14 Comments

Admit it, doesn’t that sound more appealing than exercising and giving up cheese for the rest of your natural born days?

According to the scale at the Fairbanks Museum Planetarium….

You’ll lose 25lbs on Venus, 107lbs on Mars… and damn Sam!

149lbs on the moon.

Someone get me Elon’s number, I need to book a flight.

So yes, the planetarium show.

It was fabulous. Full of stunning arrays of the solar system and the night sky.

Shame you won’t get to see any of it…

Because once again, cameras were banned.

*Note to self – do not search Giphy for the word boo.

The results will not be what you are expecting.*

Moving on…

The second floor of the museum was devoted to cultural oddities from around the world.

And of course the building itself was weirdly wonderful.

The woods were glorious, and that’s a barrel vaulted ceiling. An engineering marvel of it’s day.

Glass display boxes circled the railings….

And were filled with marvelous pieces of weird history.

Because really, isn’t that the best kind?

Everything a girl could want was in those cases… jewelry.

Hair accessories….

Manicure extenders….

And shoes!

There were shoes!

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Native American moccasins….

And Chinese Lily Feet slippers….

Which I have always had a morbid fascination for.

Heck, I complain about bunion pain….. can you imagine having your feet deformed like this on purpose?

I love me some shoes.

But even I don’t love them that much.

Getting my geek on.

November 29, 2018 rivergirl1211 26 Comments

Day 5 of vacation dawned and it was screaming museum.

(Okay, maybe only I heard that. But I’ve found it pays to listen to the voices in my head.)

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Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium… a bizarre place.

It was built in 1891 to house a wealthy man’s cabinet of curiosities which had quickly overtaken his house. It was a big house, but hey… he had 175,000 curiosities. Things can get cluttered quickly.