Legos and Hepburn: A winning combination

 One of the first things that we did when Joshua arrived, was to head to the local library, and sign up for the Summer Reading Program.  One of the library perks, of which I had been unaware, was a pass to visit the Reading Museum.  With the weather steaming up, it seemed the perfect opportunity to check out the pass and head to the museum with Joshua.  Especially since I had read that there was a Lego exhibit on view as well as a Katherine Hepburn exhibit.

Joshua was super excited about seeing Legos (and the mummy).  I was eager to see the Hepburn exhibit. (I'd already seen the mummy.....more than once.)   A win-win for both...well, last least in my eyes. 

We stopped for a quick photo before entering the museum

and, after checking in, we were directed behind the counter to begin the tour, where we immediately spotted some Lego creations that were made by some locals:

The Pagoda:

and some shops in West Reading

Continuing up the stairs, Joshua was delighted by what we saw.

The Empire State Building

The Sydney Opera House

and El Castillo Pyramid were just a few

In the gallery off of the main hall, stood an amazing reproduction of St.  Pancras Station in London.

On our trip to London a few years ago, we traveled in and out of this station, and stayed within eye's view of it overnight, so I was really impressed with the details that went into its replication

Along the sides of the room, we viewed:  

The Colosseum

London's Olympic Stadium

Amsterdam

Las Vegas

Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik

The Painted Lady's from San Francisco

Cartahena, Columbia

Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro

Halley VI, Antarctic Shelf

and a couple which will remain unnamed, since I didn't catch that information at the time:

Buckingham Palace

I found this last one to be particularly amusing, as it features the queen wearing one of her lovely hats as well as Prince William and Kate Middleton on their wedding day. This particular lego structure was created with a few customized parts to feature Royal hats and clothes that would be worn at a wedding. 

The gallery led to the Ancient Civilizations Gallery, where lies the infamous Nefrina under glass.  

I did not take a photo as it truly is the real deal, and the face is exposed and could be a little disconcerting to some.  But, a bust is on display that is believed to exhibit her features according to the forensic artist who determined her appearance over a decade ago. 

And a hologram told the story of her life.  This was actually all new to me, as the museum underwent a huge undertaking to update this part of the museum, working with Egyptologists to ensure that her appearance and narrative were historically accurate.  The Sarcophagus on display had held the entombed body. 

 It really was fascinating to hear her story, and Joshua listened intently as she told it.

There were several other artifacts displayed in this part of the museum.

Moving on, we checked out the armory,

and there was an entire section devoted to Native Americans in another section of the museum.

We took the stairs to the upper level, passing one of the beautiful stained glass windows, 

where there is a fine art gallery.  There were paintings from local artists on display, as well as other pieces of fine art.  This particular painting caught my eye, and I couldn't help but admire its beauty.

Off to the side of the stairs was the Katherine Hepburn exhibit.  I thought it was rather clever to have an exhibit of pants just at the entrance. 

 Katherine was known for being a trendsetter regarding women wearing pants.  There was a quote among the display from Hepburn herself: "Anytime I hear a man say he prefers a woman in a skirt, I say, Try one.  Try a skirt".  It went on to tell a humorous story regarding the time the RKO executives had all of the pants removed from her dressing room in an attempt to get her to stop wearing them.  She stripped down to her underwear and threatened to walk around the set naked if they didn't return the pants.  Needless to say, her pants were quickly returned!

The exhibit featured outfits worn during various films, as well as some posters from others.  Joshua was a real trooper and let me explore somewhat at my leisure.  There were many movies that I was not familiar with, so I can't imagine it would be all that exciting to a nine year old boy to spend much time looking around at clothes and posters from a woman whom he'd never heard of before today.

But here are some of the collection highlights that I found interestingly enough to share:

This feathery item was featured in "Love Among the Ruins"

and, of course, there were the pants. 

That was just about the perfect amount of gallivanting through the museum for both of us, so we headed outside to take a brief walk along the grounds.

 

As you can see, there were few people around so we could enjoy the lovely flowers along the path to the car.

Joshua had a fantastic time, and couldn't wait to tell his mom all about it when we got back home.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank Miss Tina at the library, for filling us in on the pass details.  It was a dynamic experience, and completely free, thanks to the library system.

You really can't beat that!