After the horse park we found lunch at a local pizza and pasta shop and then headed to our next stop – The Ark Encounter. God had a sense of humor and decided to set the mood by causing a deluge of rain from some thunderstorms. As we drove toward the park we explained to Tweenager and Movie Star that some people might take the exhibit VERY seriously and that we should not make fun of what we saw.
The Ark
When we arrived, it was apparent that this was going to be a bit more crazy and larger then expected. The parking was $10 and you needed to take a shuttle bus to the main area. While it poured outside, we bought our tickets. Do you know how much it costs to see a life size model of Noah’s Ark and walk around inside? A lot. It might as well have been pouring buckets of cash that came from our pocket.
Mom the Frugal just shook her head in disappointment. She was probably happy that we couldn’t also pay to see the Creation Museum. Surprisingly, she let us proceed with this life risking event. Yes, this was not well thought out, and in hindsight we probably should have done the bat. We were fully masked, and there were some others with masks. However, clearly this was mostly a very religious crowd. The type of religious that doesn’t believe in science, vaccination, or anything to do with Covid.
After exiting the bus, we entered the main building and were treated with what can only be described as a lecture about how Noah cared for the animals. We just momentarily stopped to listen. However, it was presented very seriously as if this was a lecture at a large science conference. The only difference being that at a science conference someone comes up with a theory, tests it, and then presents the data. In this case, a possibility thought up by someone was being presented as fact with no way to test or know whether it was true. I just shook my head and moved on.
Next, we started walking toward the Ark. We were supposed to go through the rainbow to start, but skipped it. While cute, don’t they know that the rainbow came at the END of the story? What kind of Bible “Scientists” were these?
I must admit, the Ark was very impressive looking. As we walked toward it, the shear size is amazing. The fact that someone decided to try to create a life size model is impressive. We don’t agree with most of what was presented, but it was still cool to see.
The Ark was also very exciting for Movie Star. She really did not want to take any of the pictures above and insisted that we run ahead. This was the complete opposite of every other experience we have had. Instead of complaining to stop, she complained to go. Was it a sign from God? No, as we found out later, this was because she believed we would get to see real animals in the Ark. Whoops! Clearly we had a communication breakdown.
The inside of the Ark was a bit crazy. They had “theories” on everything and a LOT of ideas on how Jesus Christ played a role in the story of Noah. I think they forgot to read their own timeline in which Noah happened BEFORE Jesus Christ.
There were depictions of what animals cages looked like and how they all must have been juveniles. They also had living quarters:
It was somewhere at this point that Movie Star realized there would be no real animals inside the Ark and became “bored”. Can you tell:
They had theories on dinosaurs. I don’t know about you, but I missed the part of the story where they talk about how many Dinos made it on the boat. Someone care to explain how they know up to 85 kinds of dinos made it on? I am pretty sure the rest of the people who were believing this stuff had Covid and had lost their sense of smell because my bull !@#!@#!@ meter was on full siren at this point.
I learned that the Grand Canyon could have been created in a really short time and all kinds of other “facts”:
They also had some really funny cartoons explaining what to say to skeptical people like myself:
There are flood stories in many cultures across the world, and we believe in the old testament in our household. However, much of what was in the museum was made up and geared to convince those who believe in Christ that what is in the Bible is literal. They really did have theories to try to explain any question that might arise. They also had a lot of Christ propaganda. We did find most of it interesting (or funny) and it was pretty amazing the amount of work they put into it. All in all it was definitely an experience and helped us all understand why our country is currently the way it is.
Also, they did have some real animals, just not in the Ark:
After the Ark, we drove to Indianapolis a little more enlightened. We definitely used the term “Jesus Christ” a lot, just probably not in the way that the creators of the Ark expected.
Indianapolis
It was a little late, and Mom was REALLLLLLLLLY worried about traffic, but Dad the Persistent forced her to go to a Thai restaurant near the canal. He had dreams of a romantic boat ride on the canal (ok, paddle boats with two kids in tow either screeching or complaining, so not so romantic). Negative Mom really wanted to give up on the dream. We did manage to find parking and eat, but could not find parking for the Canal. Mom stayed with the car because of the warning about towing (She probably could have walked down for the pics, but if you have read the blog you know she is a strict rule follower). The canal was cool, but there wasn’t time to do much besides snap a few quick pictures. We also were able to see a few other sites in the City, but Mom really had it out for Indianapolis. She only wanted to see the speedway, but there was not time. Given her propensity to speed, she probably envisioned taking the Mean Green Minivan onto the track and was just disappointed. Maybe next time:
Aliens
As we left Indianapolis to head to the hotel, Mom wanted ice cream. However, we couldn’t find any that met her standards. At one point, we did see a strange site in the sky. It didn’t appear to be an airplane because after 30 minutes the trail had not changed. It was definitely weird. Dad the curious wanted mom to pull over so he could get better pictures of the UFO. However, Mom was annoyed and exclaimed, “If we aren’t stopping for ice cream, we aren’t stopping for that!” We all protested, but apparently the order of importance in the world is 1) Ice Cream, 2) Stopping an Alien Invasion. I now understand why none of the UFO videos are good quality. It’s because Mom doesn’t let Dad stop to video:
Day 2 was done!