There's a lot of things about Baltimore we can look down on, even as Marylanders living within the region. The crime rate, venereal diseases, the school system, the Orioles. Baltimore is not a metropolis in the grand scheme, like a Philadelphia, or New York, or Boston, just to name a few eastern seaboard cities. But, I tend to forget that Downtown Baltimore does offer a good bit of fun things to do. Especially as a parent looking for family fun. We've frequented the Aquarium, we've tried Port Discovery...
The Science Center was another place I went often as a child. My dad bought a membership at some point in our childhood, and we definitley took advantage. Especially the lock-ins. We used to do it every year, go to church at St. Mary's Star of the Sea (note, this is the same church my parents were married in), head over to the Science Center, get dinner of Tony's Pizza, go into a couple fun little classes about different science topics (I remember learning about volcanoes), hit up both a Planetarium show and an IMAX film, then spread out our sleeping bags in the Newton exhibits and sleep literally among the exhibits. I can't remember what we did in the morning after, but it was a lot of fun. And we did it for a bunch of years. I also remember seeing Rolling Stones on the IMAX, and that was pretty great. I'd have to say the last time I remember going there was just before they started the major renovation/expansion, which was finished in 2004. So it's probably been over 10 years.
So, with two kids of my own now, especially kids under the age of 4, I was a bit unsure of how they would do at the Science Center. Noah actually remembered seeing a Sid the Science Kid where they went to a science center, so I guessed he knew what he was in for. Let me tell you, that renovation took that place from great to VERY great. The layout I remembered before was...1st floor: Science Arcade, Blue Crabs, IMAX...2nd floor: Newton Exhibits, Planetarium, Space...3rd floor: Special Exhibit, Odds and Ends, Kids Room (which was just a regular sized room where they put some kiddie toys I think).
This layout was WAY expanded. On the "Ground" floor, there was a large dinosaur exhibit where Noah dusted off dinosaur bones and there was a COLOSSAL sculpture of a brachiosaurus being bitten by another dinosaur. Making our way to the 1st floor, they have all the Newton exhibits, plus some new ones, along with the IMAX. The 2nd floor had their Special Exhibit, which currently was about Bugs (more on that later), Space and the Planetarium, a "Your Body" exhibit which we only got a few exhibits into. The 3rd floor was Science Arcade, Blue Crabs, Energy Conserving Car of Tomorrow, and a MAJORLY fleshed out Kid Room. We probably spent about half our time in this Kids Room alone. I was glad to see a lot of the exhibits I remembered from before (The Floating Ball!), while a bunch of new good ones were added in (One Noah wanted to do but forgot about later was a "self propelled chair ride" where you pulled yourself up into the air on a seat). Noah loved pretty much all of it. We spent 5 hours there, and the only reason we didn't spend more was the ADULTS were getting tired out.
In addition to reviewing this, I took my new attitude into here. With the Tough Mudder coming up, I've started trying to adopt a new mantra..."What won't kill you can only make you stronger". I will need this mantra when I come upon a field of LIVE WIRES carrying 10000 volts and have to run through it. Basically, if I know something isn't going to set me back more than some temporary pain or discomfort, go for it, otherwise you won't know what you're missing. This mantra got me to try two things I probably would've passed on before...I ate a cricket. The bug exhibit had a "Bug Food" stand where a chef was literally making up bug recipes, and one of them was "Cajun Crickets", which was crickets cooked with Old Bay. So I grabbed one, took a quick glance, and popped it in my mouth. And you know what, if you aren't think about it, it doesn't taste like a bug. I tasted the old bay more than anything. The other thing I decided to try was the Bed of Nails. Noah was admiring this exhibit (where a Science Center employee was running the exhibit) and Shannon asked if he'd be able to do it. The lady said he probably could, but if he wiggled around a bit, it might not be as good for him, so he decided to pass. But he volunteered me for it. I was like "You know what, bring it on!". So, lucky for me, I was now withing the weight limit (Old weight would've been 10 pounds over). I laid down, gave Noah the okay to push the button and after a few seconds....I was sleeping on a bed of nails! The lady gave me a fright by telling Noah "Okay, now we'll push him back down". She meant the button to retract the nails, but I thought she was trying to tease and saying "Now, go and push on daddy to make sure he feels those nails!". But you know what, it was fun. And it felt pretty cool, I could feel the nails, but they just felt like blunt rods on my back.
So all in all, the Science Center was a big hit. I was even slightly dissapointed that we didn't have more time there to finish exploring, but Shannon and I were pretty close to pooped. Noah and Darcy both fell asleep on the drive home, and Noah stayed asleep (But he did wake up right at his bedtime to get dinner). Between the National Aquarium, The Science Center, and Port Discovery (which we rated lowest of the three, but will grant that they have a ton of fun stuff for older kids there), Baltimore is definitley a place a family can go for a FULL weekend of activities.
