Jul. 21, 2007 - The Creation Museum - Pictures and Review

Can I just say Wow!???  I have just returned from a trip to and through the new Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky and I remain impressed.  Christian families everywhere are going to want to make this experience a vacation priority.  Teens approaching college age have a real need for this experience.  Exhibit displays within the museum are well designed, incredibly artistic, mentally stimulating and spiritually stimulating.  Lifelike wax figures, stunning dinosaur re-creations, high tech and articulate video experiences all combine into one Creation experience.  The exterior grounds are beautifully landscaped and teeming with fish and insects of the beautiful variety,  allowing for reflection on God's act of creation and also useful for the energy release of museum weary children.

When we visited, the crowds were polite and thoughtful and the staff was professional and helpful.  No pushing and shoving here!  Architecture and design are stunning.  I was so thrilled to find a Museum Gift Shop filled with products designed for edification (books and videos for all ages) and not filled with cheap junk designed to tempt children and line pockets.  Thank you so much Creation Museum for this choice!  Souvenir choices are limited to a magnet, a button, a bracelet, or a t-shirt.  A few higher quality toys are available; and I do mean just a few.  I do not remember ever feeding my family of 6 for $20 at a museum restaurant (which we did at the Creation Museum); prices are reasonable though not cheap and the quality is outstanding.

           

• Visit early in the week and arrive early in the day.  Average weekday crowds are 2000 strong; and weekend crowds reach 4000.  We went on a Friday and simply cannot imagine trying to go through that museum with more people.  Navigation was very difficult.  Small corriders with stopped crowds are not friendly for claustrophobic folk so come mentally prepared to endure. 
• Use the facilities before you start!  Restrooms are not available once you enter the exhibit section until halfway through.  Exit and re-entry is not easily possible, as you are basically moving in one long line through 20+ exhibits without any exit points. 
• Wheelchair users cannot access the larger Dinosaur display.
• Discuss No Touching with your younger children before you arrive.  Another Mommy of young children warned me about this before we arrived and I am so glad she did!  This museum was definitely designed with the ages 8 and up in mind although younger children are welcome.  My six year old enjoyed parts of the experience (especially the planetarium) and my younger two (4 and 18 months) enjoyed the dinosaurs, but were hard pressed to endure.

• We found the museum contained lots of top level information and would love to see more development of the intellectual contradictions of evolution within the exhibits.  For more development of the intellectual arguments against evolution which are introduced in the museum; plan to purchase one or two age appropriate books in the museum store.  Or even better, purchase the books before you arrive and read ahead of time to create hooks for what you will see!