In Part 1, I talked about seeing all the dinosaurs, but there is a lot more to the museum.
In the Naturalist Center, kids (and their parents) can get a hands-on experience learning about the natural world of New Mexico. This room had microscopes to look through, fossils and rocks to touch, an impressive bug collection and a sand pit for making animal tracks. There are also live native animals here to see, including a huge turtle, a vinegaroon, a beautiful tiger salamander and lots of snakes. We also stopped by the Fossilworks, where staff were in the process of extracting dinosaur fossils from their millions of years old rock matrix and preparing them for display.
Another cool exhibit is the time machine, which is an elevator with a moving floor, that is decked out with science-fictiony panels of lights, dials and buttons. Though the video on the display has obviously not been updated since the 90's, it was fun for the kids and pretty neat for the adults as well. After several hours, our little one was getting tired, so we didn't make it to see the Learning Garden or the Hall of Stars, which features a look into astronomy, star formation and space exploration. Also to do on our next visit is the Mission to the Asteroid belt exhibit and the Planetarium, which shows a variety of programs throughout the week.
Unfortunately, we just missed seeing a temporary exhibit called "Da Vinci- The Genius" which attracted over 70,000 people over the summer. This feature contained two parts: “The Secrets of Mona Lisa” and “The Inventions” with more than 200 pieces on display, including 75 large-scale and interactive models of the inventor's designs.
The Museum is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Mountain Road right outside of Old Town. They are open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day, as well as from 5:30 - 9 PM on the first Friday of each month. The Museum is free to New Mexico residents (with ID) on the first Sunday of every month.
New Mexico seniors age 60 and older receive free Museum admission every Wednesday. Normal prices are $8 for adults, or $10 to visit the planetarium as well. Seniors are $7/$9, and kids under 12 are $5/$7. Kids under 3 are free!