About the Nat at Night
One of the best museums in San Diego, you can explore the Natural History Museum at night with a drink in hand during their “Nat at Night” events. No grown-ups, no rules. Actually, the standard rules still apply (and then some), but now you can finally drink a beer next to an Allosaurus fossil and commiserate with them over their extinction.
The Nat at Night is held every Friday during the summer beginning the end of May until October. It starts at 5pm and ends at 10pm, and admission is half-off. All four floors and exhibits are open for exploration – our favorite ones include the Expedition Baja (currently on view), the Fossil Mysteries (always on view), and the Skulls exhibit (always on view). If you need a change of pace from the museum observations, they have trivia in the main atrium at 7PM. On the third Friday’s of the month, a business called SketchParty sets up a station where they cover tables with paper and provide coloring and drawing materials for everyone to make some art inspired by the museum exhibits.
Bars are conveniently stationed throughout the floors, and the museum’s restaurant, The Craft Taco, is open in the main atrium (where the trivia will be). On the rooftop you will find food provided by a local restaurant, Wolf In The Woods. Order at their station on the rooftop and grab any open seat (first-come first-served). Unsurprisingly, the rooftop has beautiful views across Balboa Park which you can savor in the daylight or evening hours.
So unless you envision some horror version of that Ben Stiller movie (we’re pitching this idea to Guillermo Del Toro), then we can’t think of a reason not to visit the Nat at Night.
Great For
• Something unique
• Date night
• Learning history
A Closer Look
The San Diego Natural History Museum goes back to the creation of the San Diego Society of Natural History in 1874. Founded by a group of scientists and nature lovers, they started small and grew over the decades, opening their first museum exhibit in 1912. As with a lot of the museums and institutions of San Diego, they eventually moved into a building originally created for the Panama-California exposition in 1915 (most of those beautiful buildings in El Prado were created for that reason). Since their inception, the Nat has done much more than display fossils and specimens.
Back in the day, they were major proponents for conserving the endemic Torrey Pines of San Diego, and they nominated a group of women in 1875 to associate members of the society, many of whom became incredible naturalists including Rosa Smith Eigenmann and Kate Sessions. They also support many scientific expeditions into Baja California, and created educational programs for aspiring young scientists. Today, they host talks and workshops, a summer camp for kids, film screenings, fund scientific research and expeditions, and have a Secret Society of Adultologists where you can enjoy events like a Jurassic themed prom night for adults. You can even host your own event there.
In short, the Nat does way more than just display fossils, and we encourage you to check everything out, beginning with the Nat at Night.
