Mississippi River Museum

If you aren't signed up for things like Groupon, Here's the Deal, and TownWild, you should be!  There are a lot of deals I don't begin to consider, but every once in awhile there is a great deal for a cool place.  A few months ago, my mom and I both bought one for half price to the Mississippi River Museum.  We went last Saturday and had a great time.  I had been one other time several years ago with my Masters program, but no one else had been.  We got to see all kinds of river life including fish, turtles, otters, snakes, alligators, ducks, and more.  We got to see this eel-like creature that was starting to give birth and the Museum staff was trying to capture it to take it behind the scenes where a vet could observe it.  We went on the old dredge boat, saw a 4D movie about dolphins (Aria wasn't too sure about the dolphins squirting her), pet a turtle, drove mini-boats, and climbed on a big fish statue.  Overall it was an excellent visit and I would recommend people of all ages to visit!  There truly is something for everyone.

 The fish statue.  You could go in on the other side and see the insides of a fish.  We said we were like Jonah inside the big fish!

 Driving the mini-boats!

 This child did not inherit her mother's fear of snakes.  Yes, I know it is fake, but I wouldn't touch it.

 This was a cool aquarium with a bubble so you could "be inside the tank."

 My favorite part of the day...the otters!  These weren't too lively when we watched them, but I sure love them.  My mom wants to see one in the wild while kayaking.  That would be mega-cool!

Aria's favorite part of the place was definitely the River Works.  This was a kid-friendly room full of water tables to play in.  This picture doesn't show it well, but they had these cool aprons you could wear to avoid getting soaked and then all sorts of boats, water wheels and other fun things to play with.  It was a good thing we discovered it near lunch otherwise I'm not sure we ever would have got her away from it!