The Academy of Natural Sciences (Photo Post)

      I have many obsessions and love everything but one of the obsessions I have had since I was a child is dinosaurs. I also really love bones so the best place for me to go is a museum where they have dinosaur bones! I also really love animals, taxidermy, and butterflies so of course The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia is one of my favorite places to visit. The Academy has everything including a butterfly room where the butterflies fly around free and can land on you. It's such a fun place to visit with children, friends, or family.

      We'll begin with the section that has all the dinosaurs. When you walk into the room, the first thing you'll see is a giant T-Rex skeleton (picture to the right is the view when you first walk in). In the back of the room there is a green screen that places you in a video of dinosaurs walking around. Next to that room is a lab where volunteers carefully clean and extract fossils that were found and will be used for the museum or studies. It's pretty cool to see and you can also talk with the people in the lab about what they're working on. It's really fascinating to see them working on newly discovered and dug up fossils. On the upper level of the dinosaur room they have a digging area for children to dig up fossils and a few other fun things such as a T-rex skull you can sit in.




      Another part of the museum includes all different taxidermied animals from around the world that are set up in displays where they'd be found in the wild. Each display has a main animal that they'r showing but if you look close enough, you'll see other small animals all around them to give it a more lifelike feel. There's usually small birds in the trees or another small animal in a bush somewhere. It's really fascinating to be so close  to some of these animals and get a real good look at them.



      My favorite room in the entire place is the room with all of the live butterflies flying around. They have a variety of them and you can get up close and personal with each one. There's plates of food that they land on and a lot of plants as well, but watch your step because  they occasionally land on the ground as well. If you're real lucky, calm, and still, one might even land on  you. Even if you aren't lucky enough for that, you'll sill get a lot of great photos in this room. Overall, The Academy of Natural Sciences is a great place to visit. It's one of my favorite places in Philly.