Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium

the morning of September 29th we visited a little museum on the Mississippi River. they have an abundance of things to explore and activities to do. here is a little snippet of our time there.


inside the museum and up on the second floor they have a barge simulator. the kids had a blast driving a barge and even more fun wrecking it!

in the first floor aquarium area they have a water lab. here they have animal pelts to pet and nasty looking spiders. they also have an area where an attendant will lift out different water dwellers so that you may touch them and this attendant can answer almost any question posed (at least the lady we had could). my little man's favorite part, though, was looking through the many microscopes at butterfly and moth wings, fleas and ants, and different fish scales.

they have a very nice model showcasing the way rivers flow. the kids just push different buttons to watch the water go. they can compare the way a river flows naturally with the way a river flows through an unnatural straight path or a fortified river through a farm community.

outside, on the river, you can explore one of Iowa's haunted places. the steamboat, William H Black, was once a working dredge boat on the Mississippi and is now a tourist attraction for the museum and a Bed and Breakfast. we didn't see any ghosts, but we did get to play down in the boats belly and explore the inner workings of the steamboat.

the pictures and descriptions i have provided are only the smallest sample of the wonderful things we got to see and do at this museum. it was one of the best museums i have visited in awhile. i highly recommend it if you are traveling through the Dubuque, Iowa area. it is a wonderful and informative place for children and adults.

Origionally posted on the blog Life Dreamed (my wife's)