On the 21st of this month, I flew to my sister’s place near Grand Rapids, Michigan. The reason for going was to housesit for her and her husband while they went on a vacation to New York. So, naturally, I found a couple fun things to do while I was there.

On Thursday, I ventured to the Grand Rapids Public Museum. This was a very affordable and interesting museum, primarily because I couldn’t find an overarching theme. I mean, there was a display of vintage dolls, a fin back whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling, an exhibit about clothing, some antique Japanese artwork, something about coins, a huge engine that was actually running, an arcade with classic video and pinball games, and a prop plane.

Here are some photos from my day there:

The museum also had a planetarium. On Thursday, I attended a stargazing showing, in which a docent showed us what the night sky looks like this time of year – he pointed out constellations and planets. It was visually interesting. However, on Saturday, I returned to the planetarium, this time to see “Dark Side: Light Show,” which, as you might guess, featured Dark Side of the Moon, played in its entirety, and set to matching, dazzling displays. When I first sat down, the man next to me noted to his wife that one of the clouds projected on the ceiling looked like a dog. The couple, old enough to be my parents, laughed about it for quite a while. I agree, the cloud did look like a dog…but I wasn’t sure what was so funny, until I realized that, of course, they are high. So things were off to a good start.

Anyway, it was awesome. Five stars, would do again.