How I spent my Christmas vacation

Overwhelming.

That’s the best term I can come up with to describe my family’s recent trip to the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum.

None of us had been to either before, since they’re still relatively new, so we didn’t know what to expect. We went in December (obviously), and it was cold, even though the sites are in Kentucky. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Covington, Kentucky, which was very nice. The second morning we were there, we found ourselves watching an Indian wedding procession (I think). A crowd in traditional Indian dress (that’s the country India, not the Native American Indian) was dancing through the lobby. The hotel bar was draped in red and gold material, and Hindu statues flanked its sides and the doorway to the ballroom. The group probably spent 20 minutes making its way through the lobby, with spectators on almost every floor of the hotel. We determined this was day three of the Indian wedding ceremony, which is basically a big party. Cool for them.

But that wasn’t why we were there. We didn’t have the dresses.

The first day (Dec. 27) we visited the Ark Encounter. Now if you’re like me, you have a cartoon picture of the ark in your head with animals hanging over the sides. That’s what we saw in our Sunday school papers and illustrations, after all. I’ve always pictured a crowded, uncomfortable ark, dark and dank with unhappy animals and irritated people having to take care of them. I don’t know why, that’s just the image I always had.

The Ark

That has now changed. Seeing a structure built to the size God commanded with an idea of how animals were housed and cared for and the living quarters for the people was incredible. This thing is massive. It’s four stories tall to begin with and a football field and a half long. I’m sure I’d heard that measurement before, but for some reason it didn’t stick. 

From left: (front row) Brenden, Mark, Emma and Ryan; (back row)

 Ken, Alissa, Erin, Avery, Amanda, Nathan, Mom, Me

We came in on the bottom floor, which was home to many of the stores - water, food - and some of the small animals. The Ark creators chose to put small reptiles and other small animals in individual containers, stored on shelving. Makes perfect sense when you think about it. Cages along the sides and in the center of the structure held larger animals. Ark builders designed feeding and waste removal systems, as well.

Moving up a level, more cages held more animals. The outside of the second level included information on the time of Noah, how the ark may have been built, a section that looked at the pre-flood world (which we didn’t go through because the line was so long), another section that displayed pictures, games and storybooks with inaccurate depictions of the ark, a petting zoo and the door.

The door was where Noah, his family and the animals would have entered the ark before God closed it. It’s a great place for photos and includes a cross of light that appears above those getting their pictures taken. It was pretty impressive.

The Ruggieros

The Crostons

The third floor was where the humans lived. Their living quarters weren’t the cramped, dark rooms I’d imagined (for no reason, really). They were light and airy and comfortable. A garden of herbs and vegetables provided food for Noah and his family. Each son and his wife had different interests reflected in their rooms. Researchers found the names of the women in other writings, so that was interesting. Each family member was responsible for over 800 animals, so they would have stayed busy.

It was fun to restructure my mental photo album. I always felt a little sorry for Noah and his family because of the conditions they were forced to live in for over a year. But now, I kind of envy them, at least the rooms the Ark builders made for them.

Animatronic robots played Noah and the fam. I appreciated the effort that went in to make them more realistic than the mannequins you see in department stores. Of course the mouths don’t move exactly with the words being said, but they’re not horribly creepy like some robots are. The movements are a little more lifelike, so that helped.

Noah releases the dove

So, would another shape of boat have worked to save everyone? No.

I don’t think the Encounter is quite finished, though. It looked to me like they were still adding to the grounds. I think the entrance we used was temporary with the actual permanent entrance to be on the stern end of the ark. We walked down that direction and found a pile of 12 stones like the altar Noah built when the water receded enough to leave the ark. There’s a sign that says the flood is coming, which felt more like an entry than the “ark entrance” sign we followed. There’s also a series of monoliths depicting the world’s story from creation to the flood. So my guess (we’ll see if I’m actually right) is that visitors will be dropped off at the beginning of the monoliths. They’ll walk down the path looking at the carvings to the entrance of the ark.

There’s also a small “town” on the bow end of the ark. It’s filled with small shops and places to shop, so that’ll be fun when it’s all done. There’s also a small outdoor petting zoo and a huge restaurant. They serve a buffet lunch (at least they did the day we were there), and it was delicious.

It’s a place I’d definitely go back to and hope to in the future. Maybe on a warmer day, though, just so the outdoor activities and exhibits are more enjoyable.

When we got back to the hotel, we walked across the Roebling Bridge, which was designed by the same engineer who designed the Brooklyn Bridge. Yes, it was very cold crossing the Ohio River. But now we can say that we’ve walked across that bridge.

We had Christmas after dinner. It wasn’t as crazy as the Christmas at either Nathan’s or Alissa’s homes, but it was fun just to spend time together.

The next day (Dec. 28) we planned to visit the Creation Museum. Mom and I started out, though, walking along the riverfront and looking at the Roebling Murals painted on the river all. They hit the high points of Covington’s history and are really beautiful. And it was still cold.

Off we went to the Creation Museum. As a believer already, the museum wasn’t filled with new information for me. But it was beautifully put together. One of the first things I saw was a sculpture of Mary, Joseph and Jesus beneath the star. You really can’t go wrong starting a museum with that. A mastodon skeleton stands to the left next to the bookstore doorway. On the other side of the bookstore, a swamp pond includes fish and turtles, which the kids found fascinating, and animatronic raptors and people.

Don't look up, Adam and Eve.

Erin and Nathan listen as Noah explains how many people were on the ark.

The tour through the museum starts with fossils. Visitors get the chance to find fossils hidden in the wall, so that was fun. A short video goes through the six days of creation. The Garden of Eden comes next, with Adam and Eve and the serpent, followed by Cain and Abel. The flood and the ark had a prominent place, but we kind of skimmed through that since we’d just seen the Ark the day before. Visitors see how man’s sin is played out in the violence and cruelty of people today. But you don’t leave hopeless. Christ and the cross are prominent at the end of the tour. Salvation was evident throughout, so visitors to the museum can’t say they’ve never heard.

Side exhibits focus on dinosaurs, dragons and the incredible diversity of insects. We also went to the planetarium show called “The Star” which presented a couple explanations for the star that guided the wise men to Jesus. It could have been a conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus, but that doesn’t fit all the scriptural criteria. It could have been a supernova, but that doesn’t fit all the criteria either. Mom and I were talking about it on the way home, and we decided it was probably a miracle star. Why not? Other miracles happened at the same time, after all.

Outdoors featured gardens, fountains, a pond and a petting zoo. The kids took camel rides, which they loved. The gardens were lighted for Christmas, which was beautiful, and characters from the nativity story waited at locations around the gardens (with fire pits because it was cold) to share their stories. A live nativity finished the walk in front of the museum entrance. We saw Anna the prophetess, and I saw a centurion at one of the concession stands.

From left: Erin, Brenden, Ryan, Emma, Avery, Mom, Mark, Alissa and Amanda with a new friend

After supper at Cheddars, we headed back to the hotel where the kids went swimming and then we all crashed. We had breakfast together the next morning and then went our separate ways. Our drive home was cold with snow in Illinois and freezing rain around Hannibal. Road conditions weren’t bad, so we were able to get back to Mom’s about 9.

As I said before, seeing these sites as a believer strengthened and augmented my knowledge of the flood and creation. There’s so much information, after a while I was just looking at words. I was reading them, but my brain was full and comprehension wasn’t happening. I know there were things I missed or looked at but didn’t get. I’d love to go back in a few years to see how it’s improved and pick up what I didn’t this time.