A Day Off

So Halloween’s presentation at the Jacksonville Library went well. I got to hang out with my friend Loren Hamilton, and we both got to entertain a room full of people — including a reporter from the local paper. Check out the resulting article here.

And since I was already halfway to St. Louis, I decided to spend the night in Springfield and continue on to the city on Wednesday, to visit the King Tut exhibit at the St. Louis Science Center.

First, I stopped by to say hello to my T-Rex buddy.

[image error]Rawarggh!

Then I went into the Tut exhibit.

You guys, it was AMAZING. The premise behind the exhibit was the discovery of the tomb by Howard Carter in 1922. So first, they had mockups of each of the rooms of the tomb. There is a WORLD of difference between seeing black-and-white pictures of the inside of the tomb, and seeing it in living color and 3-D — in other words, in real life.

Then — then — they had the exhibit of every single thing in the tomb, laid out to look at. It was GLORIOUS. And the way they had it set up, you really got a sense of what went where in the tomb. I’ve been drooling over these artifacts for decades, and I even learned something new about them.

I spent half an hour or so just staring at the gorgeous solid-gold innermost coffin. And probably another twenty minutes staring at the mask.

[image error]Solid. Gold. And so freaking beautiful!

I have been obsessed with ancient Egypt since I was seven years old. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go to the Tut exhibit when it was at the Field Museum in 1978 (even though I lived in the suburbs, just twenty minutes from the city). I did go to see it when it returned to the Field in 2006 (holy CATS, has it really been that long?). And of course, when there was a Tut exhibit at the Peoria Museum, I volunteered so I could go whenever I wanted. And I spent HOURS there. But this — this exhibit blew all the others out of the water. Seriously.

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And I loved that people were so respectful. It was quiet in the exhibit, no matter how many people (and schoolchildren) were milling around.

 

If you are anywhere near St. Louis before January 7, 2018, do yourself a solid and go see this exhibit. You’ll find it interesting — and if you are an Egyptophile, it will ROCK YOUR WORLD. I want to go back.

And as an added little bonus, while I was walking back to my car, I met the guy with the World’s Best Job.

[image error]His name is Cowboy, and I got to pet his shoulder. (The horse. Not the policeman. I have no idea what his name is. I just want his job. Or his horse.)