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Sleep under the famed blue whale
"We feel that getting to sleep in a museum and run around when nobody else is in there demystifies it and focuses the kids so the place isn't quite so boring and stuffy and overwhelming," said spokeswoman Michele DiGirolamo.
The interactive science, technology and art museum Explora in Albuquerque, N.M., has offered sleepovers to schools and organizations such as the Girl/Boy Scouts for about two years. It also sponsors groups for sleepovers from throughout the state, said Emily Jendrek, visitor services program coordinator.
"New Mexico is a big state and for some groups to come and visit the museum, it's more feasible that they stay the night," she said. "It's a really intimate experience. You have access to absolutely everything one on one."
One of Explora's top sleeping spots is a hall of mirrors, a niche fitted with mirrors from floor to ceiling.
"They're completely surrounded by their own reflection, which is kind of fun," Jendrek said.
The museum usually offers two new choices of programming from six picks each year. One of this year's new programs has guests using M&Ms and leaves to delve into how chromatography is used to separate the components of mixtures.
Back in New York, the whale is a mainstay and a huge draw, Harris said.
"It's magical and beloved by so many people," he said.
After check-in at the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, and after my daughter chose just the right cots, we happily trooped around museum rooms selectively open for the night.
We made moon rubbings and origami, watched an IMAX film on dinosaurs and munched a museum-provided snack before settling down beneath our beloved friend — the whale we had spent many a happy year playing under before third grade, with its crush of soccer games, swimming lessons, homework, birthday parties and playdates.
The whale's tiny eyes looked down on us as soft light moved slowly across its girth, illuminating its white splotches and throat grooves.
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At midnight, lights out meant whale off — its trademark lighting going dark. The whoosh of institutional climate control sounded like the ocean itself as we hunkered down like some crazy but undiscovered species burrowed into the sandy ocean floor.
My girl slept, alas not long enough. The next morning, after the whale flicked on and we stirred and crowded into a museum cafe for our whale adventure breakfast, I asked my child what she thought.
Her answer was high praise from a sleep-deprived 8-year-old: "Nice."
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