One of my all-time favorite museums would be the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. I have visited it countless times with my family and it is an enriching experience that never gets old. I get to see the fossils of ice age animals such as saber-toothed cats, mammoths, dire wolves, and giant ground sloths. I got to watch the fossils being cleaned and catalogued in the museum’s laboratory. I have always been amazed by the size and majesty of these ancient mammals.
If I built a dinosaur theme park like Jurassic Park, I have a few ideas of what to include. At the front gate, I would build a statue dedicated to Michael Crichton, the man who first presented us with the idea of bringing dinosaurs back to life. There would be a natural history museum that would rival the Smithsonian and will house fossils from all throughout history. There will be the largest prehistory themed gift shop in the world, selling anything from DVDs, books, toys, and actual fossils. The food court would have the most diverse menu and choice of restaurants of any theme park.
Now we come to the fun part of the park: the animals. For the dinosaurs, Ice Age creatures, and other large animals, there would be a series of safari parks. The vehicles that would go through the safari would be heavily armor-plated yet have big enough windows for the passengers to see the wildlife. Next, there would be a section that houses the small creatures such as prehistoric insects, reptiles, and amphibians. For the flying creatures, there would be an aviary and would house prehistoric birds, pterosaurs, and flying mammals. Finally, there would be a Sea World-like section that would house the marine creatures such as prehistoric whales, sharks, fish, cephalopods, and marine reptiles.
Overall, I am picturing a theme park that will not solely feature dinosaurs, but all animals throughout prehistory. Dinosaurs were only one section of prehistory so I would like a theme parks that features all sections. If I write a story about a prehistoric theme park, I would want it to feature all of these attractions and more.
At the museum, I saw a number of necklaces made from teeth from humans, sperm whales, dogs, and wild boars. It reminded me of the necklace Numen the Slayer wore after he slew the monstrous bear known as the Graega. The necklace Numen wore was made from the Graega’s claws and held together by bronze links instead of fiberous string.
At the museum, I saw a wide variety of different medieval weapons. There were pollards that ranged from billhooks to halberds, crossbows, stiletto daggers, sabers that ranged from sabers to schiavonas, normal swords that ranged from claymores to longswords, strange swords that ranged from hunting swords to katzbalgers, and even smallswords like Arya Stark’s Needle were there. It was a combination between a gallery to an armory. Many of these weapons I included in my fantasy series and I plan to include several more in future works. I was like a kid in a candy store because these rooms were a goldmine of inspiration.
At the museum, I saw all kinds of medieval armor that ranged from plate armor to chainmail. Some of the armor was fluted, others were trimmed with gold, and a few were forged into segmented scale plates. I included some of these designs in my fantasy series and I plan to include more of them in future works. It was like walking through a gallery full of superhero suits.
In the museum, I found a wide collection of medieval helmets that ranged from Spanish morions to Italian sallets. Each one was of beautiful and intricate design and I will definitely use them as models for some of the armor in my fantasy series.
I went to my local museum today and it had a rich collection of medieval artifacts that came all the way from Florence, Italy. Among the artifacts were armor and equipment of jousting knights. A knight’s lance was tipped with a three-pronged piece of iron. It was designed this way so that the lance would not penetrate a knight’s armor too much and still be able to knock an opponent off their horse. Back in those days, jousting would have been completely pointless if it was completely safe. Imagine being struck in the face with a lance with the force of a 40 mph car crash.
Great news! I discovered that my local museum, the Bowers Museum, will be exhibiting medieval weapons and armor all the way from Florence, Italy. This is just the kind of exhibit I would like to see. I am checking off the days on the calendar as the big day draws near. I will keep you updated on this new development.
I also visited the Smithsonian American History Museum and I came across this World War II propaganda cartoon. It kind of was a mix between Superman and Looney Tunes.
While I was at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, I went into their butterfly house. It was like walking into a fairy tale because the butterflies and moths reminded me of fairies. There was even one butterfly that stubbornly clung to a lady’s bag and would not let go no matter what. Even though it is unlikely that I would include fairies in my fantasy series, I thought it would be nice to draw inspiration from this experience if I decide to write a children’s story.
Grady P Brown - Author 