Natural History Museum & Newsies

We decided to extend our visit in the city by a couple of days, there were some shows we wanted to see, and there are always new things to see in New York.  Since the weather was still rather cold and gloomy today we thought it would be a good day to go to a museum.  We had visited the Met, even though you could visit that place a dozen times and still not see everything we wanted to go somewhere we hadn't been before.  I was hoping for the Guggenheim, I have been dying to get into the museum for years but there is always something that keeps me from going.  This time, they were setting up a new show and the rotunda was closed.  The whole reason I want to go is to see the rotunda, so there was no point in going if the best part of the museum was closed.  So, we decided to go to the natural history museum.  This place is incredible.  The exhibits are wonderful and the museum is huge!

We made sure to visit all the animal halls

The Hall of Biodiversity was by far my favorite part of the whole museum.  It was endlessly fascinating.  So many cool things to learn about.

My second favorite: The Hall of Ocean Life

The Hall of Gems

My mom wanted to see the famous star of India.  

I'm glad she did because I probably would have bypassed the Hall of Gems and the Hall of Minerals.  However, I was totally taken by the display's presentation. 

I thought the way they created patterns out of the different gems was fascinating.  

At 563 carats, the Star of India is the world's largest gem-quality blue star sapphire. Some 2 billion years old, it is also one of the most well-known objects in the world.  I didn't get any pictures of this famous stone, but we did see it and it was beautiful.

I am lucky enough to have the unique opal as my birth stone.  

I had no idea there were so many different kinds of opals:

Black Opal
White Opal
Boulder Opal
Crystal Opal
Fire Opal
Matrix Opal

After 5 very full hours of learning at the museum, it was time for some dinner.  We decided to get some New York style pizza.  Believe it or not I have never had New York Style Pizza in New York, it was time that changed.  We went to John's Pizzeria, it came highly recommended and it was a short walk from our hotel.  You would never tell from the outside, but it is actually an old church....

"When the search was on to find a location as unique as the pizza itself, the newest John's in Times Square, in which patrons eat their pizza under a five-story stained glass cupola of what was once the Gospel Tabernacle Church, was born. Built in 1888, the site was reconstructed to house the largest pizzeria in the country. With over 400 seats, four pizza ovens, and two kitchens, this outpost can accommodate large and small parties alike "

Cutest dessert ever

After dinner we went to see newsies, squeeee!!!!!  I grew up watching this classic Disney film more times then I can count.  I was hopelessly in love with the handsome Jack Kelly (a very young Christian Bale) I have every song and every iconic line memorized.  I remember the day I heard this childhood favorite had been turned into a broadway play, it was immediately added to my Life Bucket List.

I was in absolute heaven the entire two hours.  It was interesting to see the differences between the movie and the play.  They switched things around a bit and added a love interest ... intriguing yes?  The dancing, the singing, the set design, the music, the costumes, everything was just marvelous.