MCR's thoughts...: A visit to Roanoke, Virginia

Peter decided he would like to spend his birthday exploring Roanoke. After such a warm spring we had a brief cold snap and his birthday was very windy and very cold, thus...winter coats in April.

We started off with a visit to the Virginia Museum of Transportation. They have a variety of exhibits; vehicles, buses, air and space, model trains and more.

Virginia Museum of Transportation

They have a some neat vehicles to see. From the earliest models of the Studebaker...

Virginia Museum of Transportation

...to some lovely old Packards.

Virginia Museum of Transportation

You can see large model trains sets...

Virginia Museum of Transportation

...or sit at the controls of a diesel train.

Virginia Museum of Transportation

We even took Peter on a small jet for his birthday. Surely that makes up for the fact we didn't buy him a present....ahem...

Virginia Museum of Transportation

But the best part was the railyard...

Virginia Museum of Transportation

If you have train lovers in your family it is a great place to visit! Walking around the train yard was fantastic, it is easy to forget how big these trains are until you are standing right beside them!

Virginia Museum of Transportation

Virginia Museum of Transportation - Jupiter rocket

After the museum we took a drive up to see the Roanoke Star.

The Roanoke Star

One surprising discovery was the "Center in the Square" building in downtown Roanoke. We went in the building to get out of the wind and warm up a bit, then spent the next couple of hours exploring.
In the lobby is a large coral reef aquarium. Our kids were delighted to find Nemo and Dory there.

Center in the Square, Roanoke VA - aquarium

They also had a tank with "Predators of the Amazon" as well as a "Turtles of Virginia" aquarium.

The building also houses the Mill Mountain Theater, the Harrison Museum of African American Culture, the Science Museum of Western Virginia, the History Museum of Western Virginia, the Roanoke Pinball Museum and a rooftop garden.

Center in the Square, Roanoke VA - rooftop

We went into the Roanoke Pinball Museum to take a quick look. They have over 50 machines that you can play, from new machines, to machines dating back to the 1930's. Apparently it is one of the few places you can access that many different pinball machines and pinball enthusiasts from all over the country are coming here to visit this museum.

We spent the rest of our afternoon in the Science Museum of Western Virginia. They have some fantastic exhibits and the kids would have loved the stay the entire day! The kids really enjoyed the Healthy Bodies exhibit, the geology exhibit and the Living River and touch tank. I didn't get many pictures there, we were having too much fun exploring.

Science Museum of Western Virginia

They learned that giving the weather forecast is harder than you think...

Science Museum of Western Virginia

The butterfly garden and bug zoo was also fun. Except for seeing the biggest Tarantula I have ever seen in my entire life. Fortunately they are smart enough to label the case with a "Warning: Arachnophobia Trigger" sign, so you know to look at your own risk.