Remember, that Ben Stiller movie about things coming alive at a Natural Science Museum? I know, it's silly and adolescent, but I can't resist any Ben Stiller flicks (could you?).
Anyway, our night at the museum, or rather the much-anticipated Pre-Opening Event at the California Academy of Science, did not involve mammoths running lose or Teddy-Roosevelt-played-by-Robin-Williams, but it was almost just as colorful.
You see, most of our fellow visitors are hubby's colleagues in the Hotel Concierge business. Yep, these are the highly-cultured/ fashioned/ polished men and women who sit behind shiny mahogany desks at classy hotel lobbies, hook you up with sold-out Miley Cyrus tickets, and are oh-so-full of "personalities" (hubby is the minority in his business as a rare heterosexual man). As we were mingling, chatting about the finer things in life on the "living roof" of the Academy, I was acutely aware of the green gocco ink I had under my nails ("Oops, those North Sea green caviar sure stains... ha ha")
Speaking of green, I actually fit in quite well with the green theme of the Academy. Just look at the photos (other than the ones I photoshopped to b&w for a bit of drama). Click on the caption if you wanna know what you're looking at. You can see I'm getting quite fond of this mosaic thing (you like? too busy?)
1. Is that a Cockroach?!, 2. Toast to T Rex!, 3. The End, 4. Sphere from 3rd level, 5. Algae display?, 6. Rainforest entrance, 7. Charles Phan- Slanted Door, 8. Is that a real aligator?!, 9. Indoor shore life, 10. Glow, 11. Finding Light, 12. Free-falling ants (?)
Not all the exhibits are opened yet, we're disappointed that we couldn't get into the Planetarium nor the huge glass dome that's housing a miniature man-made rainforest. And I'm shocked (no pun intended) that one of my favorite exhibits- the earthquake simulator- has been scrapped (we totally need to feel more earthquakes here in California).
But between the interactive Madagascar Hissing Cockcroach display (these cyber cockroaches crawl out from under your feet as you step onto them), watching the poor albino aligator scared stiff by his supposed "mate", and the free-flowing pinots and famous meat balls (which by the way go perfectly well with conversations about green caviar), we were thoroughly entertained for a couple of hours.
Love to hear what you miss about the old Academy!
