The Schiele Museum of Natural History

The Pirates exhibits will thrill young boys and girls alike, and the lifelike historic villages outside are a treat to walk through. But a simple blog post won't be enough to tell you all the Schiele Museum of Natural history has to offer!

When you arrive in Gastonia, and park at the museum, from the parking lot a walking trail and historic village area will be to your right if the museum is straight ahead. There is also a nice area for picnicing (which is precisely what we did to enjoy a family meal!).

Tickets for adults are $7 a pop, and kids under 4 are FREE. Kids 4-18 are $6, as are seniors and students.

You will be greeted by a huge fossil of a T-rex in the front lobby.

There is always a temporary special exhibit on hand, and for the summer of 2010, it is "Pirates!", featuring some lifelike and education activities, such as tying knots for the ship, hoisiting the jolly roger, and donning pirate costumes and manning the helm. Be careful of the squeamish kids, there are some rather "gory" exhibits geared towards kids, but might scare the preschool crowd (or, in the case of my son, make him loudly exclaim about the dead body and how cool it looked, go figure!).

There is also an activity room with blocks, a reading tent, coloring sheets, puzzles, and finding treasure in the sand. This is not part of the "Pirates!" exhibit and is a permanent fixture of the museum.

Further on down inside the museum are lots of different exhibits chronicling the diverse species on our planet and detailing the evolution of man. While the exhibits, which mostly consist of a fair amount of taxidermy, are nice to look at, there is a LOT of reading in these areas, so don't expect your little ones to pause at each plaque and wait patiently as you attempt to "educate" them. They are kids, not dictation machines, just make some general statements about each exhibit, and elaborate on topics your child seems interested in :)

Outside the museum you will find not only an "authentic" reproduction of a historic American village, you will also find a Native American village on a .7 mile walking trail, complete with lots of photo opportunities at the Grist Mill with real working water-powered mill, and a teepee. That's right, you can do what I did with my husband and make out in a teepee. Because that's what Christian marriage is all about :)

Sarcasm and playfulness aside, the Schiele museum provided us with 5 hours of entertainment and family bonding time, for a low price, and only an hour outside of Greenville/Spartanburg makes it an affordable day trip.

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