Museums

Guinness World Records – Hollywood 2023

Posted by Spider Michaels on August 22, 2023

Posted in: California, Cool Things, Entertainment, Hollywood, Museums, Travel. Tagged: Attractions, California, Entertainment, Guinness World Records, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Museums. Leave a comment

While in Los Angeles a few months back, I visited the Guinness World Records attraction in Hollywood. What follows are some of the pics I took and a story about my visit.

The location is hard to miss as you stroll Hollywood blvd.

The entrance is well-designed and inviting.

This guy sold me a combo ticket for Guinness World Records as well as the Hollywood Wax Museum that was across Hollywood blvd.

I was planning on visiting both attractions and the combo ticket saved me some money.

This display of the world’s tallest man was right on the sidewalk in front.

Too bad he didn’t play basketball.

This is the entrance of the tour.

The first of many wax figures.

Pretty cool entrance.

This is the view of the first area.

Michael Jackson.

Some similarities but not a great resemblance.

A good display.

But not a good Elvis.

I liked this area.

This was the passage leading to the next area.

Looking back at some of the space items.

Mirror selfie.

Lots of color to draw you in.

Interesting.

This wall had lots of information.

Another cool area with several displays.

This man had seen quite a lot in his lifetime.

A Robert Wadlow display.

The smallest woman was next to the tallest man.

An overweight person display.

A lot of cheeseburgers and chili cheese fries.

A display on some exit doors.

Just plain gross.

A great stairway.

A snake coming out of the ceiling.

After the stairs, you entered this area.

Another cool way to have a tv on display.

Next was this area.

Which led to this area.

Mario is famous.

A pop quiz area.

A room to scream.

The inside of the scream room.

Looking back where we came from.

Barry Bonds was in an area of sports records.

A good likeness.

Lots of detail.

Several records by famous pro athletes.

The next area.

A good display with interesting information.

Yao Ming.

Not a good likeness.

Could be better.

Some big feet.

The next area.

A look backwards.

This would be cool to have in a man cave.

You can stand behind this display and be a fat person.

A look back.

This was a cool area.

A mock theater.

Another colorful stairway.

This would be great for a kid’s room.

A fun display.

Funny.

A wall of records.

Heading towards the exit.

Electrocuted man.

What a shock that must have been.

I’m sure this record has changed by now.

Big bucks movie star.

Looking back.

The exit was clearly marked.

I asked the employee to snap some pics for me.

This concludes this blog post about the Guinness World Records attraction in Hollywood, California. I have many more photos on the site listed below.

To see all of the photos from my tour of Guinness World Records, visit the link below and click on Photos.

https://TheSTORMFactory.com

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum – Hollywood 2023

Posted by Spider Michaels on August 18, 2023

Posted in: California, Cool Things, Entertainment, Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe, Museums, Travel. Tagged: California, Hollywood, Interesting, Los Angeles, Museums, Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, Strange, Weird. Leave a comment

When I was in L.A. recently, I spent several days on Hollywood blvd. One of the attractions that I visited was the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum. Here are some of the pics that I took and a story about my day.

I’ve been to Hollywood several times over the years and saw this building but never went inside.

They have the entry area decorated well. I like the color choices.

Here is the entrance to the museum.

The first room had a lot to see and read.

Here is what I found about Ripley…

“LeRoy Robert Ripley (February 22, 1890 – May 27, 1949) was an American cartoonist, entrepreneur, and amateur anthropologist, who is known for creating the Ripley’s Believe it or Not! newspaper panel series, television show and radio show, which feature odd facts from around the world.”

Mirror selfie.

Robert Wadlow’s shoe. It is size 36D and 17 1/2 inches long. It weighs 4 1/2 pounds. You know what they say about big shoes…

The museum had some great displays.

In 1919, Ripley married 14 year old film actress Beatrice Roberts, a child 15 years his junior. A 29 year old man marrying a 14 year old. Let that sink in.

Great display.

Love the color.

“Ripley made his first trip around the world in 1922, publishing his travel journal in the newspapers. He became fascinated with unusual and exotic foreign locales and cultures.”

Marilyn is everywhere.

Great art.

Frank was one of America’s first teen idols.

Fact: He couldn’t read music.

“Liz Taylor’s instinctive sense of her own worth led her to negotiate the first $1 million dollar contract for an actor for her role in Cleopatra. She was also the first celebrity to launch a hit fragrance brand and became the first female social entrepreneur.”

One of her lovers said that she had the body of a porn star. I would have liked to find that out for myself if I was young with her.

“Throughout the 1920s, Ripley continued to broaden the scope of his work and his popularity increased greatly. He published a guide to the game of American handball in 1925. In 1926, he became the New York State handball champion and also wrote a book on boxing.”

“With a proven track record as a versatile writer and artist, he attracted the attention of publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst, who managed the King Features Syndicate. In 1929, Hearst was responsible for Believe It or Not! making its syndicated debut in 360 newspapers and 17 languages worldwide.”

“With the success of this series assured, Ripley capitalized on his fame by getting the first book collection of his newspaper panel series published.”

Made from Starburst wrappers.

Crazy.

Darth Vader.

R2D2 and C-3PO.

“Ripley prospered during the Great Depression, netting $500,000 a year by the end of the 1930s.”

“He employed a large staff of researchers, artists, translators, and secretaries to handle a deluge of suggestions for new oddities to report – and he traveled the world in search of curiosities and expanded his media to include radio and Hollywood.”

Some weird stuff coming.

I’m betting he had no teeth.

That’s a lot of ink.

Would a woman want to French kiss him?

And the female version.

Can you imagine bringing her home for Thanksgiving dinner? What would your family say?

Strange eyes.

One big Native American.

“Ripley started building museums in major cities. Funding for Ripley’s highly publicized global travels was provided by the Hearst organization.”

Christopher Reeve has been called the G.O.A.T. when it comes to playing Superman.

“Always in search of the bizarre, Ripley recorded live radio shows underwater and from the sky, the Carlsbad Caverns, the bottom of the Grand Canyon, snake pits, and other exotic locales.”

This display was great. The Terminator was rotating.

Wild.

How long did this take?

Such detail with nuts.

My girl.

Some interesting facts about Marilyn… she had a hard time memorizing lines.

She was never nominated for an Oscar.

36 magazine covers in one year. Wow!

Sometimes she talked about herself in 3rd person.

Joe DiMaggio had flowers placed at her grave 3 times a week for 20 years.

“The Seven Year Itch” is my favorite Marilyn movie. She does a commercial in that movie.

This dark area could have been better.

If you cared to eat some insects they had a vending machine.

“Ripley’s cartoon series was estimated to have 80 million readers worldwide, and he is said to have received more mail than the President of the United States.”

“He became a wealthy man, with homes in New York and Florida, but he always retained close ties to his home town of Santa Rosa, California.”

“Ripley claimed to be able to “prove every statement he made” because he worked with professional fact researcher Norbert Pearlroth, who assembled Believe It or Not!‘s array of odd facts.”

“Pearlroth spent 52 years as the feature’s researcher, finding and verifying unusual facts for Ripley.”

Guess who this is supposed to be.

I don’t see it.

“Ripley’s ideas and legacy live on in Ripley Entertainment, a company bearing his name and owned since 1985 by the Jim Pattison Group, a privately held company based in Canada.”

These mirrors are the last thing you see in the museum.

I did get some pics of Marilyn while going through.

“Some like her because she was sexy and beautiful; others because she was a funny comedienne. There are people who adore her sensitivity and others who love the way she never stopped trying to make her life more fulfilling.”

I have my own reasons for being a Marilyn Monroe fan.

To see all of the Ripley museum pics and more, visit the link below and click on Photos.

https://TheSTORMFactory.com

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum – Hollywood 2023

Posted by Spider Michaels on July 31, 2023

Posted in: California, Cool Things, Entertainment, Hollywood, Museums, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: California, Celebrities, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Los Angeles, Madame Tussauds, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Movie Stars, Wax Museum. Leave a comment

I visited Madame Tussauds on Hollywood boulevard and had a great time there. I had never been to a wax museum before and was impressed by the work.

They have a special Marvel area inside.

Danny Trejo. The tattoos are great.

Such detail.

Johnny Depp with Lourde and Lady Gaga in the background.

Leonardo DiCaprio. Suave.

Angelina Jolie.

Such good work.

A favorite pic of mine.

Full body shot.

Brad Pitt.

Jim Carrey.

My gal, Marilyn.

Bob Hope and George Burns.

Howard Hughes.

Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart from ‘The African Queen’.

Marilyn Monroe.

Had to get a pic with my gal.

Audrey Hepburn.

Elizabeth Taylor.

Rachel Welch.

Bruce Lee.

John Wayne, the Duke.

Clint Eastwood.

Anthony Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter.

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump.

Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig as 007, James Bond.

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky.

Patrick Stewart and William Shatner.

Tupac Shakur.

Madame Tussaud.

The Marvel area was pretty cool.

Samuel L. Jackson.

Chris Evans.

Chris Hemsworth.

Robert Downey, Jr.

Great set.

A nice gift shop.

Lots to choose from.

Great displays.

Madame Tussauds is a great place to visit and I recommend it, highly.

There are many more wax figures than what you just saw. To see the rest, visit the site below and click on Photos.

https://TheSTORMFactory.com

Museum of International Folk Art – Santa Fe

Posted by Spider Michaels on March 11, 2020

Posted in: Entertainment, Museums, Santa Fe, Travel. Leave a comment

This was the third and final museum I visited on my first trip to Santa Fe. I enjoyed my time in this museum.

The first section was of miniature villages and people.

There was a whole little world set up to enjoy as you walked around and marveled at the details.

I wonder how many hours to create these figures, then place them so carefully.

Can you imagine if this was your playland as a child and you got to play with these little people.

This is amazing.

I would like to see this in Texas and use The Alamo as their inspiration.

Can’t you just see a miniature Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett fighting on the wall as wave after wave of Mexicans charged.

I’d also like to see the creators do an Egyptian scene, complete with pyramids in the background.

This would have been my favorite play area if this was mine as a kid. The boat and the water is really cool.

Another great scene to do in miniature would be the Battle of Gettysburg, during the Civil War. Soldiers everywhere, most bloody, some dying. 7,863 soldiers died at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Any type of historical miniature scene would be so educational. Kids would be enthralled with the little soldiers, etc. I would have loved to see that during my History class. It would make History come alive, so to speak.

I believe this is a Hindu piece.

Hindu again, I think.

Jesus is in many languages.

This was pretty cool.

I liked this display.

This looks Asian, like the dragons they dance in the streets with.

Nice mask.

Until next time, be safe and have a chill day.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com

New Mexico History Museum

Posted by Spider Michaels on February 25, 2020

Posted in: Life, Museums, New Mexico, Santa Fe, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: Museums, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, Wild West. Leave a comment

I visited three museums on my first trip to Santa Fe. This museum was probably my favorite.

When you first walk into one section of the museum, you’re taken aback by so many crucified Jesus’.

To have this old wagon on display is a very cool thing.

There’s lots of things associated with cowboys and their equipment, like these saddles.

This old drum has some serious mileage on it.

Having these old playing cards on display was pretty cool.

I liked that with the uniform they had a portrait of him wearing it. This was a good display.

The museum had lots of guns on display. There’s no getting around the fact that New Mexico was part of the Wild West.

This is a replica of the gun the revolutionaries used. Their supporters would hide bullets in loafs of bread to supply them with ammo.

The first gold strike in the Old West was made by Jose Ortiz in 1832 south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in what would quickly become the boom town of Delores.

The era known as the Wild West began after the Civil War in 1865.

The period ended around 1895, lasting for 30 years.

The most famous gunslingers in the Wild West were James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok and William H. Bonney aka “Billy the Kid”.

The Santa Fe Trail ran 900 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe (now New Mexico). The Santa Fe Trail was one of America’s great trade routes until 1880, when it was replaced by the railroad.

There are young people today that don’t know what this is, or how to use it.

I can’t imagine the hardships of crossing America in a covered wagon. Rough and tough times for the frontier people.

This is a cool picture they had on display.

I enjoyed looking at this painting.

It looks like this woman is baking something in this photo.

Never a shortage on religious items.

Here’s a nice set of very old silverware from back in the day.

This is Pancho Villa’s death mask after he was shot and killed.

At the end of the second section, they had lots of photographs about things in New Mexico.

The photos were fun to look at.

In a third, smaller section of the museum, I saw this old printing press and had to get a picture.

The museum has some interesting things to occupy your time. The photos you’ve just seen are of the things I thought were most interesting. A lot of the other stuff wasn’t photo worthy.

I’m standing in front of a very large map of New Mexico that has lots of info on it about the state. It was very interesting to look at.

You should try to visit as many museums as you can. You see all sorts of interesting things and learn some great facts.

Overall, the New Mexico History Museum was definitely worth visiting.

I hope you get to enjoy a museum soon.

Until next time, be safe and have a chill day.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Card FB Post 1

Houston Bicycle Museum

Posted by Spider Michaels on February 10, 2016

Posted in: Cool Things, Houston, Life, Museums, Texas, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: Bicycles, Bikes, Houston Bicycle Museum, Museums. Leave a comment

On one of the Free Thursday Museum days, I visited the Houston Bicycle Museum.

Every kid remembers their first bikes. It was your first sense of freedom.

You could ride around your neighborhood, visit your friends, go to the store for comic books and cokes or ride to the community pool during the summer.

I loved bikes as a kid and have owned a bike most of my life.

The Bike Museum had lots of bikes on display and they brought back lots of memories for me.

I think everyone knows what an old bike like this first one looks like. I still find it hard to believe that anyone actually rode something like this.

I bet a lot of people busted their asses while trying to ride this thing.

Bicycles are human powered vehicles, typically featuring pedals, a seat, two wheels and a frame.

There are over one billion bicycles found throughout the world.

The cool kids rode something like this one with the extra large handle bars.

Bicycles are used for transport, recreation, competitive racing, courier delivery and a range of other tasks.

Competitive cycling includes track cycling inside velodromes, time trials, mountain biking, BMX and longer events such as the Tour de France.

The Tour de France was first held in 1903 and his since become the most famous cycling race in the world. Held over three weeks, the annually changing route goes through the Pyrenees and Alps before finishing in Paris.

I would never attempt to ride a bike like this one with the pedals out in the front.

The energy required to cycle at low to medium speeds is roughly the same as the energy required to walk.

To get efficient use of their pedaling, cyclists use a high gear when going downhill, a medium gear on flat surfaces and a low gear when going uphill.

Here’s another of those bikes with the pedals out in the front. What a strange sight this is.

Here are some tandem bikes on display.

The longest “tandem” bike was over 20 meters long and it seated 35 people. It was recorded in the history of dumb ideas as a prime example.

Some bicycles feature suspension. This is especially common in mountain bikes where they are used to help deal with the vibration caused by uneven surfaces.

The Bike Museum still had a photo of Lance Armstrong on their walls. What a disgrace to cycling and America he was and is.

They also had a jersey framed with autographs on it.

They also had Eddy Merckx bike on display.

He was one of the greatest cyclist ever.

Road bikes typically have thinner tires inflated to higher pressures than those found on mountain bikes, taking advantage of the smoother surfaces that roads generally provide.

Before the word ‘bicycle’ become popular (coming from the French word ‘bicyclette’), bikes were typically called ‘velocipedes’.

Two wheeled transportation developed in the 1800s, from pushed powered bikes through to mechanical crank drives with pedals.

Cycling became increasing popular in the early stages of the 20th century as cycling clubs and races caught on.

Orville and Wilbur Wright, the brothers who built the first flying airplane, operated a small bike repair shop in Dayton, Ohio. They used their workshop to build the 1903 Wright Flyer.

Fred A. Birchmore, 25, circled the globe by bicycle in 1935. The entire trip, through Europe, Asia, and the United States, covered forty thousand miles. He pedaled about 25,000 miles. The rest was traveled by boat. He wore out seven sets of tires.

There are over a half billion bicycles in China. Bikes were first brought to China in the late 1800s.

About 100 million bicycles are manufactured worldwide each year.

Over the past 30 years, bicycle delivery services have developed into an important industry, especially in cities, where the couriers have earned a reputation for their high speed and traffic-weaving skills.

This is a bike made out of wood. Pretty unique.

Americans use their bicycles for less than one percent of all urban trips. Europeans bike in cities a lot more often—in Italy 5 percent of all trips are on bicycle, 30 percent in the Netherlands, and seven out of eight Dutch people over age 15 have a bike.

The Tour de France is one of the most famous bicycle races in the world. Established in 1903, it is considered to be the biggest test of endurance out of all sports.

Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX), an extreme style of bicycle track racing, became a sport in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Maris Strombergs, of Latvia, received the gold medal for Men’s BMX, and Anne-Caroline Chausson, from France, took home the gold in the first Women’s BMX Olympic event.

The fastest man on a bicycle is surprisingly an American, John Howard, who was foolish enough to ride his bicycle 155 miles per hour in the slipstream of a specially designed car. He survived to tell the tale.

This is a display of the evolution of biking helmets.

I was excited to see a picture of my girl, Marilyn Monroe.

These next two photos are of some studs from back in the day.

Check out how short this guys legs were. How did he ever ride this bike?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the Houston Bicycle Museum.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Butterfly Center – Houston

Posted by Spider Michaels on January 29, 2016

Posted in: Houston, Life, Museums, Texas, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: Butterflies, Cockrell Butterfly Center, Houston, Insects, Museums, Texas. Leave a comment

On my quest to tour some of Houston’s museums, I also decided to visit the Cockrell Butterfly Center in the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where they have a simulated rain forest for the butterflies and also insect displays.

Just inside the front door was this caterpillar. Great for the kids to climb on and for family photographs. I actually volunteered to take a photo for a family so they could all be in the picture. They were very grateful and the picture came out great.

The first thing to see was the insect section.

They had great information on display and several TV’s were playing educational videos.

These are Madagascar hissing cockroaches on display. You could tell this area was mainly for kids because the displays were low to the ground at kid level.

This display was a large beetle holding the Earth.

Here were some dung beetles and they had a video of them playing nearby.

This area had games for the kids to play and was a great place to spend some time if you were a parent.

This butterfly display was pretty cool.

They had a wasp nest on display. I’ve been stung by wasps before and its sucks.

This display of some more insects was neat to see with the animal skull in there.

In the Rain Forest area, you could see the butterflies.

And boy was it ever hot.

Seeing the butterflies eating was a nice sight.

There are 165,000 known species of butterflies found on every continent except Antarctica.

Butterflies vary in size. The largest species may reach 12 inches across, while the smallest may only be half an inch.

Some butterfly species lay their eggs on only one type of plant.

The process by which a caterpillar magically transforms into a butterfly, aka metamorphosis, is completed in 10 to 15 days, depending on the species.

Butterflies have a long, tube-like tongue called a proboscis that allows them to soak up their food rather than sip it.

Males drink from mud puddles to extract minerals that aren’t available in flowers. This behavior is known as “puddling.”

Some butterflies have been seen drinking blood from open wounds on animals.

The waterfall near the exit was the most scenic area in the Rain Forest.

Once back inside, there was more info about insects.

Here is a beekeepers uniform on display.

There was a large Vampire Mosquito to check out.

The Cat Flea display reminded me how gross fleas are.

It’s too bad they didn’t have some of these butterflies flying around the Rain Forest area.

I had read about this vending machine when I was researching the Butterfly Center.

It’s stocked with packaged insects, in case you wanted to eat some.

Scorpions anyone?

They had a bug recipe book on display.

And other items for you to serve at a party.

In another area for kids, they had this display set up to show what goes on in a beehive.

I’m sure lots of schools bring their students here.

Even though the insect section was mostly for kids and the Rain Forest didn’t have a large variety of butterflies to see, I still enjoyed my time at the center.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the Cockrell Butterfly Center in Houston.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com

U.S. Armed Forces Museum

Posted by Spider Michaels on January 28, 2016

Posted in: Cool Things, Houston, Life, Museums, Texas, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: Armed Forces, Gulf War, Helicopters, Houston, Hummers, Jeeps, Korea, Museums, Soldiers, Tanks, Texas, U.S. Armed Forces Museum, USA, Vietnam. Leave a comment

Another museum I didn’t know was in Houston is the U.S. Armed Forces Museum.

It’s located 7 miles east of downtown off of I-10. It didn’t take me long to drive there and I was happy I went.

The first thing that I saw when I walked in the door were these mannequins in uniform.

When I paid the ten dollars entry fee, I was told that every tour of the museum was a guided tour.

A nice guy named Robert was my tour guide. The first room we entered had more mannequins in uniform.

There were old radios on display.

Some model ships behind glass looked cool.

There were more uniforms in the corner.

There were also little displays in the room.

In this glass case were guns from the past.

They even had German uniforms and weaponry on display.

These were G.I. Joe action figures.

The next room we entered was filled with nothing but vintage uniforms.

Next, we walked into a big area in the back.

The first thing I saw were the helicopters. If you’ve read some of my other blog posts, you know I love helicopters.

This is a Huey, famous for Vietnam service.

Here’s some info about the Huey.

This is what the inside looks like.

And here’s the pilot’s area. There’s a lot to look at on this instrument panel.

This next vehicle had some awesome guns on it.

Here’s a better view of the guns and the sign.

They had a camp set up for display.

The museum had quite a lot of big vehicles. Here’s a few of them.

Everybody recognizes the Hummer.

After the helicopters, I loved seeing the old Jeeps the best.

I’ve always wanted one of these Jeeps to ride around town in.

I once looked up the prices for these Jeeps and was astonished at the costs.

I saw one like this that was completely refurbished and looked like new. The seller wanted $25,000 for it.

I’ve seen others for around 10 to 15 thousand also.

In this area, they had some more G.I. Joe’s on display.

In this tent, the museum holds meetings.

On the outside, it was set up like in times of war.

Here’s another of the larger vehicles they had on display.

There was a display with a mannequin in a First Aid station.

Here is a First Aid vehicle.

And here’s what the back looked like.

This First Aid vehicle runs on tracks rather than wheels.

This next vehicle was pretty cool. Like most things in the military, it was multi-purpose.

On the inside, officers could have an office in the field, or the area could be converted into an operating room for surgery.

The museum had some large vehicles on display also.

These next two vehicles ran on tracks like a tank also.

The museum had many more larger vehicles on display, so if you ever get the chance you should stop by and visit the museum for yourself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the U.S. Armed Forces Museum.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com

The Houston Fire Museum

Posted by Spider Michaels on January 27, 2016

Posted in: Cool Things, Houston, Life, Museums, Texas, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: Fire Fighters, Firemen, Heroes, Houston, Houston Fire Museum, Museums, Texas. Leave a comment

I visited The Houston Fire Museum after I found it on some obscure list of things to do in Houston. I bet not many in town even know of its’ existence.

Everybody loves Firemen. Women think they’re Heroes and Sexy. Men and boys want to be one and the Fire Fighters I know are very cool individuals.

The Fire Museum is actually in the first paid fire station in Houston.

It was built in 1898 and opened in 1899.

This old truck was in remarkable condition. It’s a 1937 Chevrolet.

Not much by way of an instrument panel.

This pumper was pulled by the fire brigades. It’s seriously old.

Men in the Fire Brigade would pull this apparatus up to the fire and operate the hand powered pumper.

They had some old photos on the wall, so I thought you’d like to see them also. It’s great having these old pictures to see what it was like back then.

I’m glad I’m living in the era that I am.

They had a bed set up like the firemen of this station would have used.

A desk also.

Many people today would not know how to operate this phone.

There was a children’s area. They could play in this fire truck and have a great time.

The museum had hats and jackets in kid sizes, so they could dress up as firemen. Very cool.

Upstairs, they had another desk set up. This might have been the captain’s.

Something interesting to read.

They also had some old fire helmets on display.

These old shoes have seen better days.

A large banner of those who have died in the line of duty.

By the dates on the pictures, these all must be former chiefs or captains of the fire station.

The museum had lots of things to look through and purchase.

They even sold the kid’s fire helmet and jackets. A nice touch.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at The Houston Fire Museum.

I think there’s a few museums left to tour before I’m finished with this series.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Houston’s Maritime Museum

Posted by Spider Michaels on January 22, 2016

Posted in: Cool Things, Houston, Life, Museums, Texas, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: Boats, Houston, Maritime Museum, Museums, Ships, Texas. 1 Comment

On my quest to tour and photograph most of the museums in Houston, I came across the Houston Maritime Museum.

It’s not in the museum district, but worth going to. It’s in an old house that I think is about 75 years old.

The admission is $5.00, which is quite reasonable to see all of the cool things they have inside.

The first model I came across was this one and I knew I was going to see some pretty cool stuff this day.

There were several military ships on display.

This one had the water in waves on the side of this ship. It made it look that much better.

Here’s another with the water.

They even had a U – Boat. Most say submarine.

This photo came out good. Some of my others didn’t because of reflections on the glass cases the ships and boats were in.

Their attention to detail was superb.

I wonder how many hours to create something like this boat. I like the colors with the white.

I saw several ships like this one below. Some like this are called Caravels.

Seeing this Riverboat that was operated by steam was very cool indeed. Lots of fun was had on these boats back in the day.

This model had some very large sails on it. It’s small with large sails so I bet it was very fast in the water.

Here’s a model of a working vessel. Notice the Heli – Pad in the rear.

Here’s another boat with lots of color. Very nice.

These next four photos are of models of offshore oil rigs. I was really impressed with them.

This ship was huge. It dominated the room, with it being in the center and so large.

This was beautiful to see up close and in person. The photos are good but not nearly as good as being there.

Pirates believed that having women on board their ship was bad luck. They also believed that whistling on a ship would cause the weather to turn stormy; as in ‘to whistle up a storm’.

Almost all pirates stole their ships because they couldn’t buy ships in case they got caught and sent to jail.

Once they had taken over a ship they had to convert it for pirate life, this usually meant making more room for sailors to live on board and strengthening the decks to hold the weight of the heavy cannons.

Although pirates have been around since the 15th century, most pirating happened between 1690 and 1720.

This model has the actual helicopter on the back. It’s yellow.

Here is a Steam Liner that was used to make ocean voyages. The Titanic was similar.

I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Houston Maritime Museum. There are many more models of ships and boats to see other than the ones in this blog article.

I’d like to thank the Docent, Eric Young for walking around with me for a while and taking the photo below for me. He’s very nice and very knowledgeable.

I enjoyed my trip to this museum and writing this article for you to see some of the very cool models on display.

Spider Michaels

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Natl. Museum of Funeral History

Posted by Spider Michaels on January 20, 2016

Posted in: Cool Things, Houston, Life, Museums, Special Events, Texas, Travel, Uncategorized. Tagged: Death, Funerals, Hollywood, Houston, Movie Stars, Museums, Presidents, Texas. Leave a comment

Let me begin this blog post by saying that I’ve never been more impressed or surprised by a museum here in Houston.

What you are about to see is pretty amazing, if you ask me.

When I began this quest to visit the most interesting museums in Houston, I had no idea about this museum. I found it listed in the Things To Do in Houston list, but it was way in the back pages and you had to go looking through everything to see it.

It’s not in town, but out near the Intercontinental Airport, a bit of a drive… but well worth it.

The first thing that I noticed when I entered was this Presidential Hearse. I knew then that there was going to be some pretty cool things to see here.

These photos must be from the funerals of Reagan and Ford.

They had the uniform of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

And they had other uniforms on display as well.

There was one section dedicated to Abe Lincoln.

Here’s a mannequin that looks like Abe in a casket.

This was pretty eerie. Notice the flowers are in the shape of AL for Abraham Lincoln.

There was a display behind glass of Abe’s funeral.

Very detailed and very awesome to see.

Next, I saw the boots of the calvary that ride in the funeral procession of a President.

There were old newspapers.

They especially had ones for JFK.

Here’s little John John saluting his dead father’s casket.

They had a replica of JFK’s casket.

This was a good display.

They even had a replica of the Eternal Flame that is for JFK.

They also had a replica casket for Reagan.

In the big room, there were several hearses.

I had never seen a casket for a man, woman and child. Kinda sad actually.

I thought this casket looked pretty cool.

They had a display of a casket maker.

Here’s another older method of bringing the casket to the graveyard.

There were lots of hearses on display.

I never thought I’d see a hearse on sleds.

This one was probably the best looking one. It’s small, so probably for a child.

Here’s another ornate one.

Here’s some more.

This was a long line of hearses.

Now, here’s what the back of those hearses looked like.

Probably the coolest area that they had was the ‘Thanks for the Memories’ section.

To the left of the entrance was this Wizard of Oz display.

Very funny.

They, of course, had the King of Rock and Roll.

Nearby was the King of Pop.

And next to Michael was his favorite lady, Liz Taylor. She’s one of my favorites too.

They had Shirley Temple Black.

Lucille Ball.

And for the NASCAR fans, Dale Earnhardt. The famous number 3.

Sally Ride.

Neil Armstrong.

The astronauts from the space shuttle tragedies.

This wall had those that were ‘Gone too Soon’.

In the center, it had those that had all died at 27 years of age. Very interesting to see.

Some Star Trek fans would like to see their show represented.

Walt Disney was in this area.

They even had Snow White’s glass casket.

Very cool.

Sadly, Paul Walker was also in this area.

They had people from the Wild, Wild West.

Most would probably only know John Wayne though.

They also had old newspapers in this area.

Some will remember the TV series Bonanza.

Here’s the main characters.

They had other famous people on banners near the top of the room.

There were cases with memorabilia also.

And good old Bob Hope. As a kid, I loved his movies. Always funny.

I didn’t know he lived 100 years.

Right outside this area, they had shoes that Robin Williams had worn in the movie RV.

They also had the hearse for Grace Kelly.

And here it is.

Here are some more hearses.

I think this was for 9-11.

This display definitely was for 9-11.

They had a wall dedicated to the Vietnam Wall.

Regrettably, we will all end up in one of these.

This is what our final resting place will look like.

Here’s what the big room looked like.

On my way out, I noticed this display for George Washington by the Presidential hearse. I almost missed it.

They have his bill for his funeral and the Eulogy on display.

As I was leaving, I stopped by the gift shop.

They had some really neat items for sale.

Lots of ‘Day of the Dead’ stuff.

There was even Egyptian things for sale.

They had more stuff on the other wall.

And a collection of some very interesting books.

This should be the end of this post, but it’s not.

As I was leaving, I grabbed a brochure and noticed the Pope Mobile. I returned and asked it they had the Pope Mobile on display.

They said yes and then told me about some areas that I had missed.

One lady even walked me back in and showed me around.

Here’s the famous Pope Mobile.

This hearse was very fancy. It’s a German hearse from 1860. Very old and very cool.

This one, not so much.

This next one is a Japanese styled hearse.

Here’s what the back looks like.

They had some ‘Day of the Dead’ skeletons on display.

I was able to see some more hearses.

This next section was a trip.

These are Fantasy Caskets from Ghana.

Most are for children because they are so small.

I now want a Fantasy Casket to be buried in.

Another area I almost missed was the Pope’s area.

Check out this display.

Very detailed.

I’ve never seen a ‘Jesus’ with bloody knees before.

Here’s an actual picture of the Pope lying in his casket.

And here’s another of their great displays.

This was a photo that was taken when a Pope dies.

Check out the long line.

Another great display of the Pope.

Here’s some things from the Pope.

They had a poster with all of the Popes on it.

And I almost missed the Egyptian area.

Their displays were great.

This was a Civil War display showing embalming.

Their attention to detail was superb.

A 19th century embalming room.

19th century funeral attire.

A 19th century wake at home.

Mourning badges from the 19th century.

Another old hearse.

19th century funeral attire.

And this was the last casket that I saw.

The museum is 30,500 square feet and has Event Planning for small 50 person cocktail parties or larger catered events.

Pretty strange place for these types of things, but I guess some people do it or they wouldn’t advertise it in their brochure.

The brochure also says, “Recognized both nationally and internationally, the museum is ever changing and home to many rare collections, some even featured in movies and plays”.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the Natl. Museum of Funeral History from Houston, Texas.

I really enjoyed my day there and writing this blog post.