Most disappointing children’s museum ever:

Until today (Tuesday, September 4th 2007), the most disappointing children’s museum that we have ever visited was the one in Richmond, Virginia . Today, that museum lost its distinction and will forever (or for at least the near future) be replaced by the east Tennessee discovery center. I found a link to ETDC through the reciprocating museum brochure that the wonderful Cincinnati Museum Center puts out every year, to let us know what museums across the world will let us in for free using our local membership card. When planning any roadtrip I use the brochure to plan stops to stretch our legs or as a day trip in a city we are visiting. So, ETDC is in Knoxville, on the way to Black Mountain, NC. We planned the stop for midafternoon and allowed a generous amount of time to explore what looked like from their website was going to be a wonderfully fun museum.

It probably isn’t a good sign when the museum is so small, you drive right by it. Then when you see no cars in the parking lot, it probably should serve as a warning. We ventured in anyway. After all it is free and we need to stretch our legs! The woman at the front desk looked put off that she actually had to get up and check us in. Then when she said that the children must use their “inside voices” little bells should have gone off in my head. We went around the corner and the museum laid in front of us….well if you can call 8 exhibit’s a museum. It was pathetic. The beehive had moths and ants in it, but no bees. The few computers they had weren’t working and some of the other displays were out of service. Needless to say, we didn’t need a generous amount of time. We probably didn’t even stay 45 minutes!

OK, so the positives for the museum…..scales that represented yoru weight on each planet in the solar system….although I would chose to live on Pluto, I am not sure if I can, since it is no longer a planet! There were interesting tidbits of informations posted on the walls. And the restrooms were clean! Always a plus in my book. Of course I wouldn’t detour that far off of 1-40 for a clean restroom, I am sure you could find a McDonald’s closer to the exit ramp and there wouldn’t be an admission fee!

Funniest museum moment, when Grant “farted” into the dish that carried sound across the museum. OK, typically farting wouldn’t be all that funny to me, but it really summed up the entire experience!