A visit to Exploration Place

Last Saturday, several of my no-names, no-photos-allowed friends and I visited

Exploration Place.  Two of them had their children with them.  It was the first time we had gotten together since our dear friend (X) had died of cancer.

I'd like to begin by saying I put a set of freshly charged rechargeable batteries in my camera.  My camera takes 4 AA batteries, so I always buy rechargeables.

We started in the main hall which was set up for children, young and old.

We got a biology lesson here.  No wonder Exploration Place is touted as the premiere Science Center in the state.

It was difficult keeping children and adults out of my photos.

Thankfully, none of the people in these photos were with our party.

This is the real reason the children wanted to visit.  It was a perfect day to see this traveling exhibit, too.

We were greeted by Superman.  Who in the world doesn't enjoy him?

Of course, he had his phone booth nearby to quickly change into his "caped crusader" costume.

Next it was time to climb the stairs to where the Bat Signal was shining.

If you weren't that brave energetic, you could try your hand at jumping.

Of course I had to jump!  That wasn't my jump number, though.

Then it was off (for me) to read some history about the comic books, while the children climbed the steps to the Bat Signal.  As you can see, the golden age of comics was between 1930 and 1945.

There was a wonderful vignette and a video to go with the story being told.

I thought the video might show up, but it didn't.   However, that period piece room was out of this world, including what appeared to be a genuine Tiffany table lamp, the vintage telephone, and a waterfall style radio.  Note, too, the wallpaper.

I was about to discover my super powers (or not!).

I like Superman, but I certainly wouldn't pay $3.2 million dollars (USD) for a single comic book.

And just as I was walking toward the next exhibit, my camera died.  DIED.  And I had not brought any extra batteries, either.  So, that's as much as you will see of this trip to Exploration place.  Note how the staircase goes around at least three of the walls in this display.  Even though the carpeted staircase to the top of the display was the only thing they could climb, since the rest was cordoned off, the kids had a ball and ran off some of their pent up energy, too.   Note also the Bronze age of Comics was from 1971 through 1989.  See also how times had changed, from the phone on the wall, to the desk lamp, to the bean bag chair, to the boom box, to the tacky wall paneling.

I saw loads of exhibits and different things, including the rest of the Comic Book Heroes exhibit, but alas, all I could do was bemoan the lack of my camera.  Thankfully I had more batteries at home that were charged, or these photos would never have made it off my camera and onto my blog.  Even the building photo came from the internet, since I had planned to take photos of it when we exited and everyone was exhausted.

If you want to go, prices are similar to the Cosmosphere, where you pay one price to see the main exhibits and more and more with each additional event or place you want to visit.   I've heard their 18-hole miniature golf course is out of this world.  However, their Exploration Park is a bit wimpy because it's just a glorified playground for kids.

Thanks for stopping by and getting a small taste of Exploration Place.