Midwestern Escapes

It may not be the most genuine dinosaur exhibit, but ‘Amazing Dinosaurs’ is filled with prehistoric evidence of a world swallowed by time. And as I visited on a Friday morning, the enthusiasm of young boys made me wonder what worlds were existing in their heads. I too, from a young age on, have been a fan of those overgrown reptiles. The kids’ excitement conjured my own imaginings of the worlds that came before us, and the dangerous creatures that lurked in a tropical forested realm.

Not to mention, there’s plenty of interactive, hands on, features that just scream fun. For instance, a life-like Tyranousaurus head creepily lurks inside a display box. And easy push buttons allow for the roar of the creature or the stomping of steadily approaching feet. If that’s a little too scary, relax…there’s a dig sight. This happens to educate a young mind as to the tools of archeologists and the painstaking techniques used for fossil discovery. If you don’t have children….the exhibit is still interesting and fun.

So on with my dinosaur discovery at the Neville Public Museum

I’m strapped for cash. You know, I have other financial obligations. And the blog finishes last on the list of necessities. Still, I’m closing in on a complete three years of weekly blogging, it’d be a shame to just let that fade into nothingness. And there are attractions in the limits of Green Bay that allow little to no cash to be squandered. I know of a perfect failsafe when money is tight…at least for service veterans. The Neville Public Museum allows any person who honorably served in the US Armed Forces free passage to peruse its exhibits. I happen to be one that qualifies for the incomparable discount.

So I stroll through the glass doors, checking out the first floor. It’s much of the same. The ‘Guns and Gowns’ exhibit livens the ground floor with a combination of female attire and masculine firearms of past eras. I’ve already visited, and posted on, this particular exhibit. I’m looking for something different today and I know, since the Safer at Home order has been lifted, there is a new exhibit dangerously lurking on the second floor.

It’s a dinosaur exhibit. And yes, I still have a thing for dinosaurs- haven’t totally shaken those boyish tendencies. When I walk in, I guess I’m slightly disappointed. Many of the fossils, or bones, or whatever you want to call them, are casts of the actual creature’s skeleton. Though some are the real deal- like an actual skull dome from a Phacycephalosaurus or a Tyranousaurus’ tooth.

But although most of the exhibits aren’t truly genuine, there’s a plus to that. Kid’s can come up to a large cast of a T-Rex’s skull and actually place there hands on it. And as I go through the fossils of bones and whatnot, I discover tooth marks from and Allosaurus on portions of a Stegosaurus. There are also tail spike casts of the large armored herbivore. These, being put side by side, conjure concrete images of fierce battles, determining ones feast, or the other’s survival.

There’s quite a bit more, there’s evidence of the Mosasaurus; a large aquatic reptile that was a fierce predator. I learn of more tender dinosaurs, well at least not as vicious as a Mosasaur, T-Rex or Allosaurus. Some ate a ton of food a day, and I do mean that literaly; a ton of food a day. I find that almost impossible to believe. Yet, Archeologists claim that not only was it possible, it happened. I can only imagine the scene, had these planteaters come down with Diarrhea. The land they left behind might indeed, be a big Sh@!hole.

All joking aside, as I had mentioned in the intro, this exhibit is really for those young boys. I discover a couple of sandboxes that entertain. One has placards under the sand, insinuating that the tike has just uncovered a new dinosaur. And one is filled with eggs.

I leave, with that great feeling. Here, a world I have always pondered has become a little more concrete. It makes me wonder how an archeologist pictures the past. I imagine it’s a realm of solid assumptions based on educated theories- filled with visions, scents, sounds climate conditions and emotions. That world, where Dinosaurs lived is clear to them, and because they have a clear vision we have a taste also. Almost a world of sheer imagination, yet wholly real and never to be seen.

Safe Travels!