Science Centers make Road Trips more Fun

Last night (or actually early this morning) we stopped at the Hampton Inn in Clarksville, Indiana/Northern Louisville around 2 a.m. to grab a bit of sleep before checking out the science center and getting back on the road.

Honestly, we question why we even stop sometimes, especially at 2 a.m.  It never fails, we wake up in the morning feeling like we had ZERO sleep.  Driving all night was probably not going to happen because we were starting to get tired, plus, we wanted to check out the science center in Louisville, Kentucky along this trip, so we paid the money ($112 with tax, which is a bit much but some of the other hotels didn't have any rooms left with double beds) and got a room.  With complimentary breakfast for our family it saves us a bit of money, but normally we don't like to spend that much on a room... especially for a few hours of restless sleep.  The beds were pretty tight (I swear they are not queen beds), especially with Eli sleeping between us, so that could have been part of the issue as well.

At breakfast, we ate with a girls basketball team and one of them said they spotted a mouse near the microwave... so, it was an interesting start to our day to say the least.

Once breakfast was finished, a little before 10 a.m., we drove the short distance to the Kentucky Science Center in Louisville, Kentucky (right down the street from the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory) and started the fun.

Right away the kids were impressed by the giant mirror mosaic outside the front doors, and giggled and laughed as they watched the images change as they ran back and forth while we waited for Derrick to park the van in the ramp.

Mr. Incredible!

Now... that's trouble!

Once inside, there was a lot of hands-on activities, a few we have never done before, and we worked our way through the exhibits.

Giant climbing wall for kids (and adults if they decide to give it a try)

Build Your Own Coaster was a favorite of ours.

This is one exhibit I would like to see our science center purchase.

Here the kids had to bounce to get a ball to the top.

This wall was a giant air flow wall that sucked in silk scarves and then popped them out at different locations.

 

The water area was a great place to splash and explore.

Elliot enjoyed it.

The kids used a variety of materials to build things to fly in the air tunnel.

They played a game where the floating cups would catch the other floating cups.

The PVC pipe from above almost hit me in the head... this exhibit needs some rubber elbows to keep them from slipping.

This is a large metal wall with magnetic pieces to line up for balls to roll over.

Before long it was past noon and we needed to get on the road.  When asked what they thought of this science center the kids agreed it wasn't the best they've ever been to (Oklahoma City Science Center still gets that award from us), but it was fun and they would come back if we were ever passing through again.

On our way back to the van we peeked in the windows of the Louisville Slugger factory and got a glimpse of the process of making a wooden bat.  Maybe we will stop again and take the tour when we have more time someday?

So now, it's on to Gatlinburg, Tennessee!