The artifacts are beautiful, and the pictures just don’t do it all justice. Those ancient artists put me to shame. We spent about an hour going through the different galleries, walking all around the artifacts for 360 degree views of most of them. Even the kids enjoyed it, and you never know what you’re going to get from historical exhibits with kids.
Of course, for a glimpse into my own maturity, consider this: while viewing the exhibit, this song from 1978 kept running through my mind…
When I was a young man, he never thought I’d see
People stand in line to see the boy king.Now if I’d known they’d line up just to see him
I’d have taken all my money and bought me a museum.
He could have won a Grammy.
Buried in his jammies.
Born in Arizona, moved to Babylonia
King Tut
Afterward, we browsed through many of the other permanent galleries at the Franklin Institute. There’s Foucault’s Pendulum, which is always fun, and a lot of hands-on science stuff.
We also saw Mummies: Secrets of the Pharoahs in their IMAX theatre. The screen in this particular IMAX is hemispherical and wraps up around you. Pretty hip. The movie was pretty good, although the five-minute Philadelphia promo spot before hand was also very impressive. Sorta makes you want to move there.
I guess we here in Baltimore can count ourselves lucky. We’re a short drive from some of this country’s great cities: Washington DC, Philadelphia, Richmond and New York. You want culture and history*, great to have these towns in our own back yard.
*Yes, I realize that “culture and history” in reference to the US has my European brethren giggling dirisively. Shut it.
