We discovered another treasure of a museum while spending a few days in Halifax this week. This modestly-sized museum packs in a wide variety of Nova Scotia history, highlights some of the unique aspects of the province, and gives the younger visitors an appropriate amount of hands on experiences to give them a well-rounded visit as well. Not only do they have artifacts, but they also have an armful of live animals with which visitors can interact. The current roving exhibit is titled, Dinosaurs Unearthed - a whole exhibit hall dedicated to animatroic dinosaurs, with artifacts and signage mixed in. It was a great balance of entertainment and education. Dylan's favorite permanent exhibit was a research ship that was set up so that patrons could drive, monitor the fish, and observe what was happening on board via screen monitors. She spent a good hour on that ship and still wasn't ready to leave it.
They also had a fantastic exhibit highlighting Sable Island, the crescent shaped, sandy island 190 miles southeast of Halifax. In 2013 this island was given the status of National Reserve due to a rich and diverse history of habitation dating back to the early 1500's. The island is a mere 12 square miles but is home to population of about 500 feral horses and the only structure is a weather station. It has very strict and expensive visitation regulations (a dream of mine) which helps keep the natural beauty of the island. There was also a lovely exhibit dedicated to the animals of the province with numerous taxidermy mammals and birds. A small room of the geological make-up of the province was also a hit for my sister and I. We enjoyed seeing that the area in which we are currently living may be the richest area of the province, geologically speaking. The last hall had a wall showing the history of the native people here in Nova Scotia and the other half was filled with a dozen or so live animals found in the province (mostly reptile and amphibian). Gus the tortoise was the biggest hit as he was out having a walk in the museum while we were there. This relatively small natural history museum was a lovely way to spend an afternoon in the city and gave us a taste of many aspects of the provinces history. While there, we decided to invest in the Nova Scotia Museum pass, which offers us entrance to 29 museums throughout the province. New goal - visit all 29 this year.
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |