Stay-Cation Discovery Museum
By Don Valentine
Looking for a great way to beat the heat in South Florida? Take the kids or just yourself to the premiere museum in Florida. The Discovery Museum in Fort Lauderdale is arguably the most state of the art museum in our great state. The museum is a “Floridacentric” treasure trove of exhibits. It is designed to teach the kids about our aquatic base of flora and fauna. Their exhibits are designed to hands on fun teaching tools.
The museum is located next to the Broward Performing Art Center. It is a state of the art facility with a plethora of exhibits adults can enjoy as well. For instance in one of the several aquariums they have live sea otters. In another they feature living and made coral reefs. Stingrays and spiny lobster are on display in another aquarium.
The museum has everything from an interactive exhibit on discovering the historical natural path of the evolution of waterways in Florida to an expansive Dinosaur exhibition. All the exhibits come with extensive explanatory billboards. You’re guaranteed to learn more about Florida than when you walked. For instance have you ever been on an Everglades air boat ride? One of their new exhibits features a simulated air boat ride. This is a multi seat air boat, it has mandatory seat belts for safety that whisks you along a fun bumpy tour of the Glades.
Recently, the museum added a 34,000 square foot Eco Discovery Center. On the first floor you will find an almost real life Storm Center. It offers a chance to touch the vortex of a 10 foot tornado and to generate a cloud or peer into a plasma ball. WSVN channel 7 donated a simulated Weather studio. There you can create your own weather report.
The major philanthropist such as Wells Fargo, Jet Blue and Broward health to name a few have been very generous with their donations. This gives us the top echelon museum in our Florida. Take advantage of this treat for just the price of a movie ticket! For more information, www.mods.org. Then go enjoy your “Stay-Cation” at the Discovery Museum and sleep in your own bed!!
