A "real" Night at the Museum.

• Author: Barrett, Wayne M.
• Position: What's New? - Watching "A Night at the Museum" and an overnight stay at New York's Museum of Natural History

Now this was way cool. First, we were going to be the first to see "A Night at the Museum." Then. we were going to be the first actually to spend a night at the museum. The New York's Museum of Natural History had extended to me and my family--along with a few hundred other members of the media--an invitation to the premiere of the action-comedy starring Ben Stiller as the naive night watchman who's in for a big surprise when he reports to his new job; afterwards, we'd set up camp under the famous whale and, a la Stiller, spend a night poking around the premises with flashlights before finally hitting the hay.

The kids, of course, were bonkers with anticipation, as well as the envy of the entire elementary school that they attend--their classmates were jealous of the fact that they'd get to see the much-anticipated movie before anyone else, while the teachers were intrigued by the prospect of one of their students spending an entire night in a darkened Museum of Natural History.

After driving from the Long Island suburbs into the city and Central Park West--which can be an adventure in itself--we checked in and promptly staked out a spot in front of a display case containing Dad's favorite fish, the barracuda, before grabbing an early dinner in the cafeteria.

Back at our "campsite," there were lots of cameras and media awaiting Stiller's arrival. However, he was running about an hour behind schedule, so the start of the movie was delayed amidst some grumbling from our tribe. All was forgiven, though, as the film was quite entertaining and proved a big hit with everyone. The after-party was mobbed, of course, but there...