Fernbank Museum of Natural History – Atlanta Day Trip
It’s been bloody hot here in Georgia, and we needed a cool place to spend an afternoon so we decided to check out the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta.
The Fernbank Museum of Natural History was a let down. I’m a big fan of museums, field trips, learning opportunities, all things dorky, so I thought it would be a great place to spend some quality nerdy time on a hot Atlanta afternoon. There were some interesting exhibits and we did learn a smidgen, but overall it was wildly underwhelming. Other than the staff at the ticket counter and gift shop, there was no one around monitoring exhibits, answering questions or sharing interesting tidbits of information. In addition to the lack of staff, I felt a lack of exhibits. Everything felt really spaced out and sparse. It was almost creepy how empty the place felt. When we got to the end of each room, I had a feeling of, “That’s it!?” They really could have packed a lot more in that museum and made it into a great place instead of a “eh” place.
Tickets costing $17.50 per adult and $15.50 per child (IMAX is not included in that price) added to the disappointment of Fernbank. It really wasn’t worth that much. I searched high and low for coupons and discounts before our outing, but found nothing. The folks that run the museum will disagree (it’s expensive to maintain a museum), but in my opinion, it was really more of a $12.00 per adult, $10.00 per child experience.
Out of all of the exhibits, we had the most fun playing with the giant bubbles and optical illusions. I’m not sure what any of that has to do with “natural history” as it is commonly defined, but Moanna enjoyed making a big bubbly mess and the rest of us had fun tricking each other with the optical illusions.
The Fernbank Museum of Natural History wasn’t all bad. It just isn’t somewhere I am planning to visit again, and not a place I would recommend to people wanting to have some fun in Atlanta. Not only is it a let down, and not worth the ticket price, but it’s not located in the downtown area where a lot of other attractions, food and shopping are.We’ve been to several Atlanta hot spots in the past eight months, and this is the only one that hasn’t impressed me.If you are stuck between Fernbank and another Atlanta attraction, pick the other place.
Other Atlanta Day Trips
Georgia Aquarium
World of Coca-Cola
In Fernbank’s defense, it used to be awesome. I remember when I was in school we went on a field trip and we all loved it. However, that said, I went a few years ago with a friend who was visiting and wanted to go. I was seriously disappointed. I wondered if maybe it was because it just wasn’t as cool as an adult, but I doubt it. I think the place has really fallen by the wayside in terms of the “it” places to go.
I got the feeling that back in the day it was probably a really cool place. It looked a little shabby