Attribution: Bone Room
Have you ever wondered where you might find a set of human ribs? How about a lose ulna or fibula? Have you ever had a hankering for a bat skeleton set in lucite? How about a horse tail? Gemsbok horn? Do you need a human skull that was subjected to trauma, say a machete blow? How about Mexican Jumping Beans? A scorpion key ring? Better yet, a scorpion lollypop? How about a velociraptor skull casting? How about owl pellets? What about trilobytes? Giant clam shells?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, The Bone Room in North Berkeley is the place for you! Located on Solano Avenue, it’s technically in Berkeley but seems like it’s in Albany. My daughter and I had an adventure after her soccer game yesterday to go see the Bone Room. We had a delicious lunch at Barney’s Burgers and then went to visit this interesting shop.
On our usual trips to the Exploratorium, the museum has a decomposing body exhibit. Every couple of weeks they put a rat or a mouse or other dead small animal into an aquarium with an active skin beetle colony. Each time we go, my daughter wants to go see the bones first. Then we have to watch the cow’s eye dissection. She really is fascinated by the interior of the body. So, the Bone Room seemed like a natural destination.
If you’ve ever been to Paxton Gate in the Mission in San Francisco, it’s a bit like that store only no plants, tea, or taxidermy. The Bone Room is overall less “arty” than Paxton Gate and a bit more science oriented. You can pretty much get any natural science item there you can think of. We ended up with a few “pet” Mexican Jumping Beans and a bracelet that featured a darkling beetle in lucite. Someone was very excited with the trip and with the booty. We’ll go back sometime to be sure and if you’re ever looking for a piece of natural history, the Bone Room might be the place for you.
