Our Review of the Creation Museum

Last week, our family enjoyed a wonderful few days in the Cincinnati, Ohio area on vacation (video coming tomorrow!). The main reason we chose this area for our vacation was to visit the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. I had heard of this museum for some time, and we were thrilled to be able to go and enjoy the museum for two days.

After getting home, I thought it would be good to write a review on the site, since I’m sure many of you have never been to the Creation Museum. In a word, my review is “go.” If I had to add another word, it would be “soon.”

We enjoy going to museums and galleries, so this type of trip was nothing out of the ordinary for us. However, it was such a relief to not have to “explain away” things, as we so often have to do elsewhere. The only references to “millions of years” in the Creation Museum was where they showed that such is not the case, and that the Biblical record can be trusted. This museum is very much a faith-building experience in the reliability of the narrative of the Bible, especially the opening chapters of Genesis.

Operated by Answers in Genesis, the museum features several things. The major part of the tour walks visitors through “7 C’s of the Bible.” These 7 include Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, and Christ. Each section of the walk is based in Scripture, and shows not only the “Bible story,” but science attached to each one. The displays are stunning, and you will find yourself looking at some of them for a long time, finding new details with every glance. This one major tour area of the museum took us more than two hours to complete.

Other parts of the museum are more “stand alone” than this area, but each one is worthy of your time. The botanical gardens are breathtaking, and the perfect place to reflect on God’s glory in creation. We saw wonderfully blooming flowers, a goose and gosling, and even a big ol’ frog, in addition to many other wonders in this beautiful place.

At the end of the gardens section, there is also a petting zoo, which is unlike any other I’ve ever been to. Where else can your kids have a chance to pet a zedonk (a zebra-donkey mix) or a walabee? While this part of the grounds is small, it is still very cool, and–coupled with the botanical gardens–a welcome break from being indoors at the museum.

Further, there are several independent displays in the museum that are not part of the main tour. There is a large insect display (Turner loved that), a dinosaur den, displays of minerals and stones, a bone and fossil display, a wall covered with dinosaur stamps from all over the world, and a section with a good number of old Bibles from printing presses. While each of these only takes a few minutes, they are a great part of the whole experience.

Finally, there are several shows and programs to enjoy. Some come included with the price of admission, while others cost extra. We enjoyed “Men in White.” This multimedia show displays how the Bible’s scientific information is under attack, but can be trusted. This show was included in our admission price. We also enjoyed “Critters of the Ice Age,” which was an hour-long seminar on some great creatures (including the Cave Bear, Giant Sloth, and Sabertooth Cat). This fun and informative program was only $3.50 per person, and each one of us also got to make a clay model of a sabertooth tiger’s head. Finally, we went to one show about comets in the planetarium. This wasn’t free (to say the least), but the kids loved it. There were two planetarium shows, but we decided to only watch one.

[For a full virtual tour, click here.]

Overall, the Creation Museum is a must-see. Here is a quick rundown of some things we loved about the museum.

We Loved…

First-Class All the Way. Quite often, things done by Christians are considered shoddily put together. That is not the case with the Creation Museum. The building, the displays, and the grounds are all very high-class. (Even the bathrooms are upscale and clean.) It is obvious that nothing has just been thrown together.

Bible Permeated. You may disagree with something here or there in the museum, but Scripture and a Biblical worldview saturates everything throughout the experience. How many times have you visited a planetarium where a Bible verse was part of the show?

Something for All Ages. Our kids are currently 8 and 7 years of age, respectively. They were a great age for their “first trip” to the museum, because they could get a lot from the visual displays. However, this museum is not just for young children. Tweens, teenagers, and all adults will find a lot of things to learn and enjoy throughout the experience.

Kids Get in Free in 2014. The Creation Museum is not free, but in 2014, every child (12 years of age and under) who comes with an adult gets in free. This is a huge money-saver!

Friendly and Helpful Staff. The staff members are not there to “preach,” but they are certainly friendly and helpful throughout. We found them to be great at helping us find things, and explaining other things to us throughout out time. (One even showed our kids how to pet a goat.)

Two-Day Tickets. I don’t know if it is this way all the time, but right now, general admission tickets are good for two days. This was a wonderful blessing. We spent about 4-5 hours each of the two days at the museum, instead of feeling like we had to stay from opening to closing to try to see everything. I really hope this is a full-time policy, or one they decide to keep, because it greatly helped us.

If you have never been to the Creation Museum, we highly recommend it. Visit the website and plan your visit. You’ll be glad you did!

QUESTION: Have you ever visited the Creation Museum? Share your experience in the comments!

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Photo credit: syslfrog on Creative Commons

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