Roving

SCIENCE, NY STYLE:  Yesterday I chronicled the first part of our last, marathon day (Sept. 11) in New York.  After The High Line park and Katz's deli, we struck out again that afternoon

We rode the F train up to 42nd Street, where we hot footed it through some long, subterranean tunnels. Here are the kids running for the train through said tunnel.  :)  At the Fifth Avenue station, we caught the 7 train east.  It took us across the East River, and through Queens.

We got to be subway veterans in our short time in New York. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic way to get around. The routes were easy to figure out, the subway stations were plentiful and conveniently located for our travels. One downside is that they were sometimes very hot - no real surprise given the weather during our visit. 

In fact, they were so hot, that as I was trying to figure out this sign, I thought initially the middle icon was don't hold onto a pole with your arm straight out, sweating/stinking on other riders. The kids and Christian thought that was hysterical. 

I can't be the only one who has ever thought that, can I?  OK, well maybe I am ...

As we traveled out of the heart of Manhattan, the subway became an elevated line which was cool, because we got to see some boroughs of the city.  As we passed through Queens, I was struck by the row after row after row of brick residences. I don't think I've ever seen that much brick in my life.

The Hall of Science is in Flushing Meadows/Corona Park part of the city. We disembarked at the 111th Street station, and walked about five or six long, sweaty blocks to the New York Hall of Science.

The Hall dates back to 1964, when it was part of the World's Fair, hosted in New York that year. At the time, it was one of just a handful of science museums in existence. Though most of the World's Fair attractions closed after the event ended, the Hall of Science has remained open (except for a spell from 1979 to 1986, during which time it underwent major renovations).

Imagine our delight as we walked up to the museum and saw it had a rocket garden. Squee!

There was a Gemini Titan II rocket on site (3 stages, 408,000 pounds!) with a replica Gemini capsule atop it.

 The rocket garden has also sprouted a Mercury-Atlas D!

CJ and Annabelle look pretty puny beneath it. And this Saturn V engine dwarfed them, as well.

We also checked out a replica of Friendship 7, John Glenn's vehicle for orbiting Earth in 1962.

Inside the museum, there were dozens and dozens of hands-on activities.

 The kids played with mirrors ...

And had fun doing some colorful shadow dancing.

We learned about the science of sound, and some about genetics. CJ and Annabelle found out they have a whole lot of water in them.

The kids loved the exhibit where they could drive a Martian rover. They were pretty good navigators!

One of the reasons we really wanted to go to the Hall of Science was that they were hosting a limited-engagement exhibit about Nicola Tesla. We eagerly headed up the ramp to the special space and then ...

Um ... well ... it was underwhelming, to say the least.

There were posters. Lots of posters. And a few static displays. An a couple of 'interactive' displays (the majority of which didn't work)

I mean, do you know how lame it is to have a Tesla coil on display and to have a button to push to make it work and then it does NOTHING?!  Super duper disappointing.

I asked Annabelle to write a review of our time at the Hall of Science.

While my family and I were in New York City, we went to the New York Hall of Science. There, we saw many things, including a wall you could make colored shadows on, a room that made you smaller/bigger to the viewer, and my personal favorite, a little Martian rover you can drive! The main attraction was a Tesla exhibit, which was upstairs. When we got there, I was very disappointing. All it was was posters lined up against the wall and a toothpick model, motor or broken Tesla coil here or there.

Overall I would give the New York Hall of Science a 8/10

MUSICAL MORNING: We started our a.m. with a live (over the radio waves) concert with Caspar Babypants on KEXP.  (Caspar is Chris Ballew, who is better know as the lead singer of The Presidents of the United States of America). He was performing songs from his new CD "Baby Beatles." He covered George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun," "Yellow Submarine," "Ob la di ob la da," and ""Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and my Monkey" and a tune I hadn't heard before,

A bit later, I came across a video of Jimmy Fallon and a few furry friends covering the Sesame Street theme. Fun!
http://youtu.be/SHogg7pJI_M