Here are the last of our vacation pictures! We took full advantage of our final day in NYC by booking a very late flight, so we were able to cram in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see the last couple of posts) and this place, the Explorers Club. You've probably never heard of it so I'll just crib from their site, because I can't explain it any better than this: "The Explorers Club is an international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. Since its inception in 1904, the Club has served as a meeting point and unifying force for explorers and scientists worldwide." And: "For more than a century, members of the Club have traversed the earth, the seas, the skies, and even the moon, on expeditions of exploration. First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first to the surface of the moon—all accomplished by our members."
The Explorers Club has supported such historic adventures as expeditions to the North Pole in 1909 and the South Pole in 1911, the great Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, Sir Edmund Hillary's conquest of Everest in 1953 with his sherpa Tenzig Norgay, and, well, humans walking on the moon in 1969. The Explorers Club flag (at the top of this post) has been all over the world and even to the moon!
This venerable organization is still going strong 113 years after its founding, and Pat was very excited to check it out. It was such a cool place! For one thing, to use his words, it's right out of a Wes Anderson film. There are artifacts from more than a century's worth of adventures on display everywhere you look: elephant tusks, taxidermy animals, a pith helmet, one of those gigantic globes on a pedestal, documents and diaries from famous explorers, an ice axe, and even a piece of special equipment that James Cameron used in his search for the Titanic. Crazy! Unfortunately we were there on the wrong day, a Saturday. The helpful staff told us that they do tours on Mondays, so we'll have to go back another time. Still, it was fascinating just to see all the things that they had on display in their front room. If you're ever in New York and want to see something that's off the beaten path, check out the Explorers Club!
Pat with some giant tusks. I'm not a fan of elephant hunting (or any other big game), but obviously these were from a different time.
A book that Admiral Byrd took with him on his South Pole expedition.
A letter from Tenzig Norgay in 1954, thanking the Explorers Club for their invitation to join their organization.
1 comment:
Wow! Who could resist visiting there?
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