Sunday Museums

I started Sunday by heading down to the Pacific Science Center as part of my City Pass admission. Just this week, the King Tut exhibit opened here for what they are saying will be the last time before it leaves North America. The King Tut exhibit was extra, but I decided it was a rare experience. The Center is comprised of 5 buildings with a water courtyard in the middle with various activities and water cannons.

Random assortment of photos taken at the Tut exhibit.

Sarcophagus for a cat

Golden Mask of Psusennes I 

King Tut's bed

Tut's golden sandals

 The Science Center is in the same area as the Space Needle, so it makes for some good pictures. The Center was a little lackluster overall compared to others like the Minnesota Science Center, for example. One big draw is that it has 2 IMAX screens, and these also show Hollywood movies at night.

They had a great insect and small animal center, but these are the last 2 pictures I took before my camera died (with little warning). They feed the boa constrictors once a week and I was lucky enough to be around right when one of them was fed.

Boa constrictor 

Blue butterfly

After the Science Center I went over to the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum. It combines music, science fiction, and pop culture into one museum centering around influences that came from the Pacific Northwest. Walking up to the building, you know it is a little different judging from architecture.

EMP Museum

Right by the door, there is a large stage with a gigantic screen behind it that had various local bands of all types playing throughout the time I was there (most of them were quite good). 

Sculpture of guitars 3 stories tall

The two main exhibits were about Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, both from the Seattle area. The place is filled with an incredible amount of cool memorabilia. There was also a large exhibit on AC/DC which was enjoyable. The top floor of the museum was a space to play instruments (drums, bass, guitar, keys) with guided help to some of the most famous rock and roll songs. There were also private studios you could try audio mixing and vocals. The two exhibits I enjoyed the most included a history of horror films and one about the movie Avatar. The horror movie exhibit showcased a progression of films since the early 20th century, movie props, and special effects demonstrations. The Avatar exhibit was filled with some of the technology used in the movie and lots of props and production artwork. I was not a big fan of the movie at the time, but it is incredible to see how much work was put into the film. All of the screenplay was acted out before transformed with CGI.

I would have had a lot more pictures if my camera did not die at the Science Center. You could spend a lot of time at the EMP museum to see all of the memorabilia.