A Visit to the Rochester Museum & Science Center and Strasenburgh Planetarium
Today is my firstborn’s 11th birthday so I first want to wish a very happy day to Archie as he embarks on the next year of of his beautiful life. We are having his birthday party next weekend, however, due to some scheduling conflicts. He decided on a party at Escape the Mystery Room followed by pizza and cake at our house which keeps it super simple for me. I will share some photos next week because you know I have to showcase his birthday cake! He picked a really silly design this time and I am excited to see how our favorite baker Monica pulls it off!
On Friday, I shared the happiest place on earth which happens to be the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. So today I wanted to share some photos from the second day of our weekend trip when we visited the Rochester Museum & Science Center and the Strasenburgh Planetarium.
We spent most of our time in the Science Museum which Archie declared that he actually enjoyed more than the Play Museum. Be still my nerdy mom heart! But also, SAY WHAT, child?! That Play Museum was everything that fantastic memories are made of!
In an event, my kid loves science so I am glad that we added this museum to our trip itinerary. By the time we got through the whole museum and headed to the Planetarium right next door, we were kind of running out of steam and ready to start the two hour drive back home. There was only about 15 minutes left in the current planetarium show and we were permitted to go in and catch the last few minutes so we didn’t have to wait for the next show. I was super grateful to the planetarium employees for permitting us to do that as Ralph had never been in a planetarium before. He thought it was pretty cool but I know he never would have made it through until the next show nor would he have sat quietly through it.
So here is a little photo journal of the Science Museum. I think I only took one picture of the Planetarium and that was just the outside of it.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
Carl Sagan
I took so many photographs at the Play Museum the day prior that I really just wanted to put my camera away and enjoy the experience. There were two particularly moving and powerful exhibits that photos just weren’t going to do justice anyway: Objectively Racist: How Objects and Images Perpetuate Racism…And What We Can Do to Change It and Take It Down! Organizing Against Racism.
Have you visited anywhere educational or moving or just plain old fun lately?
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
22 Comments
Gwen Gottlieb
What a fun way to spend a birthday! Beautiful family pics! The museum looks fab! Happy Birthday, Archie!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Gwen! It was a really great family weekend! The kids are finally at the cool ages where they appreciate, enjoy, and remember these types of experiences!
xoxo
Shelbee
carmen
Happy birthday to Archie, your firstborn! What a wonderful adventure for an 11 year old (and every age!). I know what you mean about putting away the camera to enjoy the experience! 🙂
❤️carmen
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Carmen! I kept trying to put the camera away in the Toy Museum the day before but I couldn’t stop myself from snapping all the cool stuff there. So I had to make it up for in the Science Museum! Haha.
xoxo
Shelbee
Mica - Away From The Blue
happy birthday to your son! It looks like such a good place to visit and it’s nice you all enjoyed your time there 🙂
Hope that you had a good weekend 🙂 It’s a nice relaxing long weekend here.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mica! We really had a great time at all of the places we visited that weekend. And this weekend was spent relaxing and reenergizing at home!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
Such a cool looking place. Very nice and Happy Birthday to Archie. Looks like he had a great time.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Patrick! It was a really great weekend, for sure!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
I loooove science museums! Actually, I love just about any museum…one I’d love to see is the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. I think that would be super cool! I do like planetariums but tend to get bored because I really don’t see what they’re trying to show me! (But, the last time I went to one was prolly 20 years ago…and maybe they’ve discovered new things)! Racism is so difficult, isn’t it? It took me a bit to understand to the degree that I can what my white privilege even was. One of the most powerful places I’ve ever been is the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.
I can’t wait to see Archie’s cake…you do get the best ones!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Marsha, thanks so much for this detailed comment on all the things! Yay! I was not familiar with the Mutter Museum so I looked it up. I don’t think I could stomach it but Archie and Ralph would both love it! I remember when my high school built a planetarium back in the mid-90s. It was such a big deal and everyone wanted to take Astronomy class (but that was maybe because the Astronomy teacher was a super hottie who all the girls crushed on)! I have definitely had some eye opening perspectives on the depths of racism and really appreciated that powerful exhibit. And I would also like to visit the Holocaust Museum in D.C., but again, I am not sure I could handle that one either.
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
This looks like fun!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Jennifer! It was a really cool museum.
xoxo
Shelbee
Joanne
Oh I just LOVE science musuems and we tend to seek them out on our travels too. Science museums, natural history museums, zoos, aquariums… I just can not get enough of them!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
They are so much fun, Joanne! We tend to seek out places like this as well when we go traveling. I feel like every experience should be a learning experience so I am always game for any kind of museum visit!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
This place looks really cool! I have a feeling I would agree with Archie on this one being the favorite. Looks like it was a really good weekend!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Michelle! I think I would have enjoyed the science museum more except Ralph was starting to run out of steam. And when that happens, he gets in the most miserable mood and will make it a point to ruin the experience for everyone else. So I kind of led him away so Archie and Jeff could enjoy the museum without Mr. Moody’s bad attitude!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
You’re a good mom!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, you’re too kind. Archie would have agreed in that moment. Ralph not so much! Haha. But they both cheered last night that I was the best mom ever as I stood over a pot of hot oil for 3 hours making them latkes for dinner!
Jeremy@ThirstyDaddy
Looks fantastic and also a good reminder that there are still some museums withing driving distance that we haven’t been to in a while #anythinggoes
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jeremy! Rochester has a lot of really cool museums. Enough that you could definitely fill a long weekend with plenty of things to do and see in the area. I think it is absolutely worth the drive and a night or two in a hotel to check out everything that city has to offer!
xoxo
Shelbee
Laurie
Looks like fun! We always enjoyed science museums when our kids were a little younger!
Featuring your post on the Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop!
Laurie
Ridge Haven Homestead
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Laurie, thanks so much! I saw the feature and it made my day!
xoxo
Shelbee