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girlawhirl is star struck at the griffith observatory Jun 23, 2008
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Her main reason for never getting there was that from January 2002 to November 2006 it was closed for a massive renovation project. Then when it did reopen last year you had to make reservations to visit – which she never got around to doing. But now reservations are no longer required, so on her last trip to the city she and a friend hopped in her rental car and drove up the hill to visit the L.A. landmark.
There's no admission fee for the Observatory but Girlawhirl did spend the seven dollars to see the planetarium show - definitely well worth it. In the old part of the building, she spent a few minutes mesmerized by the Foucault pendulum in the central rotunda and checked out the hall of the eye and the hall of the sky.
Then she made her way down into the new part of the observatory to the “Edge of Space Mezzanine” – where there are Martian and lunar meteorites on display along with the largest stone meteorite in California – and the “Gunther Depths of Space” – where one whole wall is covered by the “Big Picture.” It's a 152 feet long by 20 feet high astronomical image that covers a part of the sky containing more than a million galaxies, stars and other celestial objects. She also watched a short film on the renovation project in the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater – named for the Star Trek star.
But, of course, Girlawhirl's favorite exhibit was the one in the “Cosmic Connection,” the corridor linking the old part of the Observatory with the new part. It's a 150-foot long timeline of the universe made with hundreds of pieces of cosmic-themed jewelry, all donated by Kara Knack, a member of the Observatory's board.
After they were done exploring inside, Girlawhirl and her friend spent some time hanging out on the observation deck because it was a remarkably clear day for L.A. and checked out the Rebel Without a Cause monument. On their way back to the car, Girlawhirl decided her next visit would have to be at night so she could get a view of the stars through the Zeiss telescope.
For more information on visiting the Griffith Observatory click here.
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Girlawhirl gets to Los Angeles on business quite frequently and she often tries to squeeze in a little sightseeing while she's there. But one of the things she had never done – until now – was visit the Griffith Observatory…
