11/10/2024

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Spring Break Visit • Kath Eats

Spring Break Visit • Kath Eats

My parents and I took Birch to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC over spring break. Here’s our recap! 

Spring Break Visit to NC

Birch and I spent the better part of last week at my parents’ house in Hillsborough, NC. (Mazen flew to Palm Springs with his dad!) We took Birch to the Museum of Life and Science on a perfect, warm sunny day. I’ll share the rest of our trip recap tomorrow!

Museum Of Life and Science: A Blast From My Past!

I grew up going to the Museum of Life and Science! We took school field trips there, and went a few times with our own grandparents. My main memories include the dinosaur trail and eating astronaut ice cream from the gift shop.

Is scary to think I hadn’t been back in probably THIRTY YEARS!

The museum is better than ever, and perfect for children of all ages! My parents took Mazen when he was 3 or 4 and we’ve been waiting for a good time to take Birch. With a day forecasted to hit 85 degrees and sunshine, we found our day. 

We got to the museum around 11am to buy tickets. It was a ZOO inside (funny because there’s a zoo outside!) with field trips of school kids, so we breezed through the inside exhibits to get outside faster. 

Carolina Wildlife

I remember this tornado simulation from my childhood! 

The Museum Layout

The inside part of the museum isn’t huge, but the outside is expansive! It’s kind of like a hybrid museum, zoo, and playground. The exhibits were some of the coolest I’ve ever seen for kids and very well done! I would definitely recommend going on a day with nice weather though because you’ll spend most of your time outside. 

Exhibits

Sound Garden

We kicked off our outdoor tour at the Sound Garden! 

Gateway Park

And did some climbing at Gateaway Park.

The Farmyard

Further down the path was the Farmyard. Birch enjoyed seeing the donkey, a potbelly pig, alpacas, and cows. 

Dinosaur Trail

The Dinosaur Trail loop was a big hit.

B was scared of the Trex but got braver to approach the raptors.

The brontosaurus was my favorite! 

The Butterfly House

We walked through the Butterfly House. 

And spent a lot of time in the Insectarium studying roaches. EEK! 

Into The Wild: Bears, Red Wolves, Lemurs + Tortoises 

The black bear did some good climbing while we were there. 

And the Red Wolf ran right across the landscape for us! Can you spot him? 

Into The Mist

The Into The Mist land was a wonderful rest stop from the heat. It reminded me of Hobbiton! So cool and a great place to chill out (ha). 

Earth Moves

There is also a cool new area called Earth Moves where children can explore the elements. Lots of waterfalls, streams, and even a big sand area to dig in. Birch wanted nothing to do with it (I think because there were too many kids all around.) 

He loved these rock tunnels though! 

Hideaway Woods

Our last stop was Hideaway Woods where there are the most amazing treehouses!!

Birch did not hesitate to climb right up. Mom and I went too! It was awesome up there. 

The Train

Was sold out when we arrived. Oh well 🙁 

Lunch at Sprout Cafe

The line for lunch was really long, and I had to wait about 30 minutes. For some reason the mobile order wasn’t turned on. That would have saved us so much time! The menu was good though, and we had a round of turkey sandwiches, fruit cups, and french fries. Plenty of choices for kids. There’s even a beer and wine garden! 

If you are in North Carolina during the warmer months, I can’t recommend this museum enough! 

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