A Stone to Pick

With the museum’s worldly exterior, I had to see what was inside.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is the Southeast’s largest natural history museum. It has exhibits on four floors that are, in the basic of words, really cool. While I passed over the reptile exhibit for obvious reasons, I spent a great deal of time walking through the Nature Exploration Center. I had no idea the Venus Flytrap originated in the Carolinas, or there was such a bird named the Carolina Parakeet. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit about the hidden gems of North Carolina. Apparently, the Tar Heel State was home to the first gold rush in the U.S., and it is the only state where emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds have been found.

A Bone to Pick

Another noteworthy section is the whale bone exhibit. I have yet to see a whale in person, so to get up-close and personal with massive whale bones was definitely memorable. I had no idea what a Right Whale was (is there a Wrong Whale?), however after walking through the exhibit, I now know it is literally the “right” whale to hunt due to its slow pace and floating after being killed. Another “heightened” experience was the skeleton of an Acrocanthosaurus (say that fast three times). The dinosaur looked like a T-Rex to me, so needless to say, it was a very big bone collection.

The museum has a plethora of hands-on activities, and it is an ideal place to spend the day experiencing everything science with your kids. They won’t even realize they are learning with all the fun they will have. This kid sure did!

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