(no subject)
Day 11 - Wilmington, DE (426 miles, 2213 total)
Our last night in a hotel. Tomorrow, we will drive the last six hours or so home after making some brief stops in Wilmington and Philadelphia. That's the plan for the moment, but we'll see how things go.
This morning, it was rainy in Raleigh when we arrived and so we opted against making our customary downtown walk and instead just hit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. It may seem an odd choice, but they have the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit which was “supposed” to end last week but has been extended until January 4 and we were lucky enough to catch it. This itself is a bit of a cheat on my part-- in each city, we've tried to hit something relatively unique to that city while also not repeating ourselves too much. While there have been a number of museums, we've done different kinds of museums: history, art, natural history, children's, science, etc. The aquarium in Chattanooga, for example, may not have been as nice as the one in Atlanta, but we had different things to see in Atlanta and wouldn't want to see more than one aquarium on the trip. But here, the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is just one that I really wanted to see and was glad for the chance of it while we were passing through. The rest of the museum was nice, too (I love learning about each of the states from their own museums, I really do), but we spent most of our time with the Dead Sea exhibit.
After leaving, it was still raining so we went to Durham's Museum of Life and Science. This was 80% a kids museum, but we really enjoyed it and it was done well. There were fun exhibits on technology, music, the space program and an extensive outdoor area where we got to watch bear cubs wrestle and lemurs look displeased. (And unique to mini-zoos that I've seen, they had a sort of “Big Brother” system where there were cameras in the animal enclosures that could be controlled, pan and zoom, from a kiosk. So, even if the animals weren't in a location easily visible, you could get up close and personal.) There was really a ton to see here and the exhibits, except for a few, didn't talk down to the children much and there was plenty that adults could learn.
We considered going back to downtown Durham and explore a bit. We had some shopping in mind, but ultimately the clock and the weather beat us into an early exit. The drive north was long anyway.
If all goes to plan, I will be home tomorrow evening. That's one day earlier than planned, but we need the rest before returning to work! Besides, I have homework to grade.
Our last night in a hotel. Tomorrow, we will drive the last six hours or so home after making some brief stops in Wilmington and Philadelphia. That's the plan for the moment, but we'll see how things go.
This morning, it was rainy in Raleigh when we arrived and so we opted against making our customary downtown walk and instead just hit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. It may seem an odd choice, but they have the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit which was “supposed” to end last week but has been extended until January 4 and we were lucky enough to catch it. This itself is a bit of a cheat on my part-- in each city, we've tried to hit something relatively unique to that city while also not repeating ourselves too much. While there have been a number of museums, we've done different kinds of museums: history, art, natural history, children's, science, etc. The aquarium in Chattanooga, for example, may not have been as nice as the one in Atlanta, but we had different things to see in Atlanta and wouldn't want to see more than one aquarium on the trip. But here, the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is just one that I really wanted to see and was glad for the chance of it while we were passing through. The rest of the museum was nice, too (I love learning about each of the states from their own museums, I really do), but we spent most of our time with the Dead Sea exhibit.
After leaving, it was still raining so we went to Durham's Museum of Life and Science. This was 80% a kids museum, but we really enjoyed it and it was done well. There were fun exhibits on technology, music, the space program and an extensive outdoor area where we got to watch bear cubs wrestle and lemurs look displeased. (And unique to mini-zoos that I've seen, they had a sort of “Big Brother” system where there were cameras in the animal enclosures that could be controlled, pan and zoom, from a kiosk. So, even if the animals weren't in a location easily visible, you could get up close and personal.) There was really a ton to see here and the exhibits, except for a few, didn't talk down to the children much and there was plenty that adults could learn.
We considered going back to downtown Durham and explore a bit. We had some shopping in mind, but ultimately the clock and the weather beat us into an early exit. The drive north was long anyway.
If all goes to plan, I will be home tomorrow evening. That's one day earlier than planned, but we need the rest before returning to work! Besides, I have homework to grade.