Seeing a T-Rex Named Sue

Overview

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There were several surprises at the Sternberg Museum. One was the mammoth skeleton in the foyer. Another was the fine in-house restaurant. The coup de gras was actually seeing a T-Rex in action.

Quick Tips:

The Sternberg Museum is currently featuring the "T-Rex Named Sue" display, but if you miss this display there will certainly be a fine exhibit for you to view.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking

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Expeditions Fine Dining

Restaurant

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What a wonderful surprise to find a fine dining restaurant right inside the Sternberg Museum. This was a beautiful setting, with forest green on the walls and a large window facing the museum foyer so that one can view some of the exhibits while eating. Also, as the musuem is affiliated with the university there was a youthful and cosmopolitan atmosphere -- quite a find in the middle of Kansas. So often what you find in museums is a fast food facility. This was a pleasure -- to sit down with a tablecloth and to have attentive servers. We had about 45 minutes to order our food and eat before our turn to view the exhibit. The staff was attentive to our needs in this and served us in a timely manne...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 19, 2001

Expeditions Fine Dining
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg - Interactive Displays"

Quote:

Just past the T-Rex skeleton was an area for interaction and taking an active part in the museum display. At one station was an arm brace that helped a person experience how and to what extent a T-rex could move its arm. Another area allowed one to smell things that a T-Rex would have been a part of the T-Rex environment and to make an attempt at identifying them. These displays held a great attraction for the kids, but they also had interactive displays geared to adults. I skipped over several of the interactive stations as they were crowded with children and had others waiting in line for a chance to partake of the experience. This concept adds an excellent feature for children as they learn mo...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 20, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg - Bones, Minerals & Rocks"

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The next two sections of the museum housed a wide collection of minerals, rocks, bones & fossils. In total the museum possesses over 3.7 million specimens representative of various disciplines. These were not all on display, but there were some fascinating specimens for all to view.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 20, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg - Land & Sea Diorama"

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The crowning glory of the Sternberg museum is the land and sea diorama. This Cretaceous Period walk-thru display features life sized models of sea and land creatures. The display is entered through a tunnel into a dark area representing Cretaceous sea life. As you wind your way through and up it is as if you are walking off the sea bottom onto dry land. What an experience this is -- to come into the daylight and see pterodactyls suspended in the air and life-sized Cretaceous dinosaurs gracing the landscape. These life-sized dinosaurs stand and move among tall trees and vegetation from a prehistoric era. An awesome exhibit.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 21, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg - A Fish-Within-a-Fish"

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One of the prized fossils at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History is a very unique specimen. It is known as a-fish-within-a-fish and it is exactly what it claims to be. The fossil remains are of two fish, one inside the belly area of the other. Apparently the larger fish had just swallowed the smaller fish when some calamity happened to bury the both of them. This fossil was found somewhere around the Hays area and was instrumental in the formation of the Sternberg Museum. The fossil is on display as well as a replica of Sternberg extracting it from the earth.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 21, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg - Discovery Room"

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Set off to the south side of the upstairs of the building is a room that we almost missed. Had it not been for our need to utilize the restrooms we would not have seen this very interesting place. It is called the Discovery Room and though clearly geared toward young people there were many adults milling about doing a bit of discovery themselves. The room was more or less like an interactive library where research could be done and hands on exploration. I think that if we lived in or near Hays, Kansas and still had young children at home that we would bring our children often to this room. It was a good place for learning and exploring.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 23, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Cathedral of the Plains

Attraction | "Cathedral of the Plains - Exterior"

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About 16 miles to the east of Hays in the small town of Victoria we stopped to visit what was dubbed by William Jennings Bryan as "The Cathedral of the Plains." The cathedral can be seen clearly from Interstate 70. A Catholic church in a small Kansas town normally doesn't draw much interest, but this cathedral is well worth stopping to see. It is 220 feet in length and the towers are 141 feet high. Constructed between 1908 and 1911 the native sandstone was quarried seven miles from the town of Victoria. The stones were dressed by local stonemasons and the cathedral was constructed without the aid of power tools or automatic lifts. The stones themselves were transported to the building site by wa...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 25, 2001

Cathedral of the Plains
10th & Cathedral
Victoria, Kansas

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Cathedral of the Plains

Attraction | "Cathedral of the Plains - Interior"

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Golden rays of a western sun shone through the cathedral windows as we entered. I was absolutely amazed to find such great artwork in a small Kansas town. The church reminded me of something that could be seen in Chicago or New York. There are 21 major stained glass works of art and 23 smaller windows with stained glass. According to the literature available at the church, these windows are considered the most outstanding of their type in the US. The stations of the cross are also quite remarkable. Each was carved of Linden wood in the Austrian Tyrol and purchased for the cathedral in 1917. The stone for the massive pillars was brought from Indiana and Vermont. This is truly a beautiful bui...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 26, 2001

Cathedral of the Plains
10th & Cathedral
Victoria, Kansas

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Victoria

Attraction | "Other Sights in Victoria"

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Catty-corner to the north-west of the Cathedral of the Plains is a sculpture by Fritts Felten titled Pioneer Volga German Family. It's an interesting sculpture, memorializing simplicity and hardwork of the German immigrants. Directly to the north of the cathedral is an interesting building that was constructed in 1909. As you enter town on Cathedral Street from Interstate 70 the St. Fidelis Cemetery is on the east side of the road. There are numerous interesting headstones here. In addition to the places I've described, the literature for Victoria lists six sights to see, including the English Cemetery, a land marker on 1st St between East and West Main Streets, and a grave site of six railr...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 26, 2001

Victoria
Various Locations
Hays, Kansas

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg - Natural History Displays"

Quote:

Finally our turn has come to view the displays. Only a limited number of people are allowed to enter the display area at one time. This makes it nice, as otherwise I believe the place would be so crowded that no one could see much of anything. The first thing you see upon entering the display area is a glass case housing a number of the museum's preserved animals. In this case is a description of how the museum was recently moved to this current location. This is an interesting display as it contains items ranging from mammoth fossils to current day animals. The displays are of both skeletal and full-bodied animals. Because I was so anxious to get to the t-rex display I didn't take the tim...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 19, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg - Viewing the T-Rex Skull"

Quote:

A replica of a T-Rex skull is mounted on a pedestal that rotates and allows you a 360 degree view. I noticed several of the museum visitors standing rooted to the ground as they contemplated the skeletal replica of this great extinct creature. I know that I vastly appreciated the turning of the display as otherwise certain aspects would have been continually against the backdrop and denied to our view. I was also fascinated with the way the lighting was arranged and the effect it had on how the skull was perceived.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 19, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg- The T-Rex"

Quote:

After viewing the T-Rex skull replica I was automatically drawn to the large fossil reconstruction of a full T-Rex. What an awesome beast it must have been. The lighting directed at the t-rex gave it an eerie appearance, adding to its awesomeness. All along the railing in front of the fossil display were cards giving explanations about different aspects of the T-Rex. It was difficult to get a chance to read these explanations as many people lingered at this location. There were a lot of posed photographs taken -- momentos of standing beside a life-sized T-Rex.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 19, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction

Quote:

The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is not a large facility, but it is packed full of wonderful things to see and do. Currently a display of "A T-Rex Named Sue" is the featured event and because of its popularity there is sometimes a waiting period between your arrival and when you are allowed in to see the main displays. This exhibit, which is currently traveling the country, will be in place until April 29, 2001. While you wait for your turn to see the exhibit you can either dine at the in-house restaurant, browse in the gift shop, or view a film on the current exhibit.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 19, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Attraction | "Sternberg Museum - Mammoth Events"

Quote:

What can you do with a Columbian Mammoth? The first order of business is to stand in awe of it. Upon entering the Sternberg Museum you are greeted by the enormous replica of a Columbian Mammoth with tusks so large you wonder about the muscle that must have been in this animal's neck to support such heavy weapons growing from its face. As a second order of business, you can read about the history of this extinct species. And once you have learned about this creature, the layout of the Sternberg Museum allows you to have a meal with the mammoth. From the in-house restaurant you have a marvelous view of the mammoth and can continue to marvel and speculate about what life must have been like in ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 19, 2001

Sternberg Museum of Natural History
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, Kansas 67601
(877) 332-1165

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Seeing a T-Rex Named Sue