Sasquatch Selfies and Other Adult Overnight Wonders at the Academy of Natural Sciences
How often do you get to take a selfie with Bigfoot? Or put your head inside a shark’s jaws? Now imagine taking advantage of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in the safety and comfort of your own pajamas, drinking the alcoholic beverage of your choice.
That was exactly what happened April 9 at the Academy of Natural Science. The latest Overnight for Adults proved to be just as fun as the previous installments.
“Just being in the museum space after hours and to have the whole museum to yourself, drink in hand, is really what makes the experience so special,” said Hollie Barattolo, the Academy’s manager of museum education and access. “Our guests are not only given the chance to go into our collections and see specimens not usually on display, but also to experience the museum like a kid again.
Participants were led deep into the vast collections of the Academy and given a literal hands-on experience. They got to hold narwhal tusks, touch a piranha’s teeth and stroke an eel’s skin. One lucky participant was invited to pull a preserved bat out of a jar, an experience he’ll not soon forget.
And that isn’t even bringing up the historic collection of presidential hair.
After all the collections had been seen, the fajita dinner devoured, the live animals wondered at and the midnight showing of “Night of the Living Dead” enjoyed — “They saw so many of our dead specimens it seemed fitting,” said Barattolo — all the guests hunkered down under the dinosaur of their choosing and snuggled into their sleeping bags.
“It was a great crowd,” said Barattolo. “So many Bigfoot selfies. So many.”
Check out more photos of the adult sleepover by Mike Servedio below.