I'm a little ashamed that in all my time as a UT student, I never visited this museum. Maybe it's because it's a science museum (I wasn't a science major), and it wasn't close to Burdine--where most of my classes were. I finally paid this museum a visit a few weekends ago while my parents were in town. It's a great place to spend an afternoon when it's too hot to do anything outside. The best part is it's free to visit.
The musuem has four floors. When you walk in, the first thing you see is the Great Hall, a room that lives up to its name with its spaceousness and high ceiling. Glass cases display colorful gems and insects. Hanging from the ceiling is a pterosaur that would be scary to encounter if it were real. Branching off from the Great Hall is the gift shop, where you can buy books, stuffed animals, pens, and other traditional gift shop items to commemorate your visit.
The first floor contains dinosaur bones (some real and some composite) and meteorites. Some of the meteorites are outside of glass cases so you can get a sense of their texture, and some of them are so small that it makes you wonder how many you may have come across while walking and just didn't know it. A smaller room behind the dinosaur bones contains drawers full of various items found in Texas--there were too many for me to look through all of them--and has a demonstration area. No one manned the demonstration area while I was there, so I'm not sure what they demonstrate. I'm guessing it's used mainly when school groups come in.
The third floor is kinda neat and kinda sad. It contains stuffed animals, which is neat because you can safely see an animal you wouldn't want to meet in person, but it's sad because an animal had to die in order to be put on display. They have a variety of animals: raccoon, mountain lion, black bear, turkey, and sea gulls, to name a few.
On the fourth floor, you will find a mixture of preserved and live animals. One glass case holds various animals preserved in jars, while others contain live snakes, lizards, scorpions, and fish. A small side room shows a 3D video--I couldn't tell you what it was about because I didn't watch it.
Before you leave the museum grounds, be sure to check out the little building to the right of the entrance. It contains dinosaur tracks found in Glen Rose. Some of them are a little difficult to see, but it's cool getting to see real dinosaur tracks.
One thing I really like about the museum is the interior design. The museum was built in the 1930s. The exterior is limestone, and there are many fossil imprints in the sides. Rather than having a plain ceiling, the Great Hall has a patterned ceiling. Large windows are covered with thinly striped curtains that let in just the right amount of light. I didn't ride the elevator, so I'm not sure what it looks like. The stairwell has a brass (I'm guessing) banister containing small brass balls with stars in the middle--I know that isn't very descriptive, but I'm having a hard time recalling the design.
Texas Memorial Museum is located at 2400 Trinity. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, Saturday, 10 to 5, and Sunday, 1 to 5. Admission is free, but be sure to bring a couple of bucks to put in the donation box--hey, it's for a good cause! If you want to avoid paying for parking, I suggest coming on a weekend day so you'll be able to park on campus without a permit. Just make sure you read the signs where you park to avoid a ticket. And make sure you don't come on a football game day because traffic will be horrendous and parking will be impossible. Parking garages are available if you don't mind paying. Here's a link that will give you all the information you need to plan your trip: Texas Memorial Museum
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