When George heard there was going to be a life size replica museum of Noah's Ark, he knew he wanted to see it. Happily we were able to do that this fall and I wish I could find another adjective but Awesome is the best word to describe it. It was a long trek for us and I know if it were closer that I would want to go again.
If you are in the area and think that perhaps if you drove by, that you might be able to catch a glimpse of it, you can't. This is the entrance and they have it located so far back that you take a bus from the parking lot.
It makes it all the more awesome as you are riding in the bus and then you see it come into view.
Our little motel was so close to this and we can see where they will be benefiting from not only this, but the Ark Encounter is planning on additions--a village like Jerusalem or Tower of Babel are rumors (you could see construction has begun), and also it was rumored that Dolly Parton was looking at land down the street. This could become quite a hot vacation spot.
The walkways are handicap accessible and it is very slow walk up the four (if I remembered correctly) stories. There is so much to see along the way and so much to take in. The animals are figurines and there are human figures too. Many of the animal replicas are of ones who have since become extinct.
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possible tools they could have used
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cages for smaller animals
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| They surmised that they could have fed and watered many animals with these systems. The wooden shaft on the left would be the feed and the clay on the right would be how they gave them water. |
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| Some jugs held oils for lamps and other just held water. There was an opening at the top of the ark where they collected rain water and possibly a watering system going down to all floors of the ark. |
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| Sacks of feed |
It was fascinating the possible ways they accomplished everything.
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| Scrolls--perhaps they brought some with them and wrote more too. |
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| This room showed how many different children books have been written about the ark. |
Pictures of the huge door.
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| This was interesting about nationalities. |
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| They could have had gardens. They day light was up above where there were holes also to capture the rain water. |
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| more gardens |
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| Sending the dove out to look for land. |
The Ark was fascinating. I would go again and still discover something I missed the first time, plus as I said, they are going to be adding new attractions.
As we roamed through the interior and floors of animals, I noted how it would be quite possible for someone to go missing from the others for days! They must have clearly communicated where they would be. What an amazing creation.
At both the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, we ate in their cafeterias. We thought they were a little pricey until we saw the portions. They were very generous and we could have shared one.
These two museums are pretty expensive especially for families. I don't know if any discounts can be found except for the combo pass. We were fortunate too, that they gave us free parking because George was a veteran but it doesn't sound like that happens all the time. We were just lucky. Still, if you can afford it, we enjoyed them both immensely and were just in awe of everything.
