Creation Museum: Petting Zoo

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In addition to the lake and gardens, the Creation Museum features a petting zoo that houses many friendly animals. One of the most spectacular species was this peacock. When the sun caught its feathers, it looked like a glowing rainbow of multicolored gold.

Peacock

Nearby stood this white llama. With its friendly face and plush fur, it looks like a docile teddy bear. However, visitors who find themselves in the pen may soon find out that llamas are known to kick when upset.

White Llama

Another furry creature was this young kangaroo. It spent its time hopping around and basking in the sunshine.

Kangaroo

Finally, another pen contained a small herd of sheep and goats. Goats have a tendency to escape from any enclosure in which they are housed, and the goat below looks like it is trying to do so. Maybe the no climbing sign should have been on the other side of the fence.

White Goat

Creation Museum: Gardens

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Surrounding the lake was a scenic garden featuring plants from all parts of the world. Equally impressive was the large variety of bridges. The one in this picture is a simple wooden arch bridge with low, arched railings.

 Arched Bridge

In contrast, the bridge pictured below uses the more common straight design. However, its interesting use of light posts as part of the railing makes it unusual.

Lighted Bridge

Creation Museum: Lake

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The landscaping outside the Creation Museum is just as impressive as the interior exhibits. A two-acre lake just outside the museum provides a home for fish and allows visitors who fall off the overhead zip line to land with a splash.

 Reflection 

Another feature of the lake, this picturesque bridge, bears a striking resemblance to a bridge in Monet's famous flower garden.

 Monet's Bridge

This suspension bridge was one of the more popular spots in the garden for wildly jumping up and down. The rocking motion also simulated a storm at sea.

Rocking Bridge

Creation Museum: Dinosaur Den

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The final stop on my tour of the Creation Museum's displays was an exhibit area known as the Dinosaur Den. This displayed a number of modeled dinosaurs based on fossils that have been discovered around the world.

The dinosaur below looks quite scary, at least when it has its mouth open. All of the specimens in the display seemed remarkably life-like.

Dinosaur

This model shows a skeleton only, which is actually more realistic, because this is all a paleontologist could hope to find at a dig site. Fossil sets this complete are, in fact, very rare. The look of the scales and skin of the other models are primarily determined by the ideas of the sculptor.

Dinosaur Skeleton

Creation Museum: The Ark 2

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Following the replica Ark construction site were a number of detailed models representing Ark-related scenes.

The model below shows the animals arriving at the Ark and being stowed inside. The tiny elephants on the ramp show the enormous size of the Ark. The rows of barrels and sacks in the ground are supplies waiting to be brought aboard. This enormous boat did not have to be transported to the water. The water came to it in a deluge on a scale never seen before or since.

Loading the Ark

The Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat 150 days after the Flood began. The model below shows what this might have looked like. While high mountain areas had been exposed, the water continued to recede in torrents and rivers.

Ararat

Creation Museum: The Ark

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The next display brought to life the historical account of Noah's Ark. This photograph shows what Noah might have looked like as he supervised the construction of his enormous ship.

Noah

To carry every kind of animal, the Ark was an enormous boat. Below we see several workmen assisting in its construction. The exhibit filled a whole room, and yet it only represented one percent of the Ark's actual size.

Under Construction

Creation Museum: Garden of Eden

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The next museum highlight was a recreation of a small part of the Garden of Eden. With lively model animals and luscious plastic vegetation, this room almost felt like it was outdoors.

These llamas were one part of the exhibit that stood out. One seems to be craning its neck to observe some distant object, while the other smirks at the viewer.

Llamas

The creature below was one of the more unusual. It looks like a leopard, except for its mottled pattern of scales. Apparently it is an artist's idea of one type of dinosaur, and it is seen here voraciously devouring a pineapple.

Pineapple-Eating Dinosaur

Finally, these two kangaroos could be seen peeking out of the vegetation.

Kangaroos

Creation Museum: Dinosaur

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As I mentioned earlier, the Creation Museum exhibits a number of life-sized dinosaurs. While there is an entire room, which we will get to later, dedicated to this purpose, I passed a lone dinosaur specimen early on along the exhibit trail.

This model is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with sharp, knife-like teeth. It could grow to forty feet long and twenty feet high, with a weight over seven tons. Maybe this model wasn't quite life size, but it definitely was bigger than any T. Rex I'd like to meet!

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Another exhibit displayed ancient scrolls from around the world. The scroll shown below dates from around 1825. Scrolls were often made of vellum produced from animal skins, resulting in a document that could last almost indefinitely. The scroll below contains Hebrew portions of Genesis and Exodus.

Hebrew Scroll 

This exhibit depicts a famous scene of Moses and the Ten Commandments. As you can probably tell from the stone tablets, Hebrew is read from right to left.

Ten Commandments

Creation Museum: Dinosaur Dig

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Located in Petersburg, Kentucky, the Creation Museum provides a detailed look at the origin and history of our planet and its inhabitants from a Biblical perspective. Its impressive displays include life-sized dinosaurs, a number of large fossils, and a detailed model of Noah's Ark. Outside, a petting zoo, landscaped garden, and three-acre lake provide additional activities for visitors.

Creation Museum

The first display includes an extremely realistic life-sized fossil excavation, complete with a dinosaur fossil buried in the rock.

Dinosaur Dig

Great care must be taken when unearthing the fossilized bones so they are not damaged. This archaeologist is using a number of tools to extract this dinosaur skeleton.

Archaeologist

Icy River

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Because of the extremely cold weather, the Scioto River was covered in a layer of ice and snow. The viewing deck shown below provides an excellent view out over the river. The last time I had been here, there were ducks swimming in the water. The sparkling river and chirping birds were nowhere to be seen on this bleak winter day.

Icy Scioto River

All signs of life were gone, except for a few footprints in the fallen snow. Nevertheless, the stillness and placidity of the scene seemed to add to the contrast of dark railings and brilliant snow.

Viewing Deck