We have had the rainiest summer EVER this year. Not that I’m complaining necessarily. But it does make it hard to go to the pool when the skies are grey and the rain is falling and the pools are, well, CLOSED.
So unlike last year, when we had the Great Pool Adventure of 2008, this year has been the year of creative indoor fun. Yesterday we explored new territory: the National Scout Museum, which happens to be located in Irving, just a stone’s throw away in Texas geography.
We rounded up a few friends and made the drive through the rain to get there shortly after it opened. I had never been there before and was keeping my fingers crossed that this would not be some stuffy, dusty, musty museum full of ancient relics and endless wall plaques. I started off trying to be optimistic, taking a picture of our scouts in front of the giant BSA logo:
We then took a stroll through the art gallery. For those that know me, you can understand my desire to get that over with first. But what I didn’t realize was that we would get to see famous people here! Like Norman Rockwell himself!
I mean, seriously, if I have to look at art, I’d rather look at his than just about anybody’s. At least I understand what he’s drawing. There is a whole gallery full of his artwork depicting scouts as only Norman Rockwell can do. There are other works there, too: a few other artists inspired by Rockwell’s work. But his are the best.
And then we headed into the theater to learn a little of the history of Scouting and who should we meet there but Lord Baden-Powell himself!
The boys were thrilled to meet him, despite the fact he kind of creeped them out a little when he talked and moved.
After all that educational stuff was out of the way, we headed around the museum for some FUN! Seriously, what is a scout outing without shooting bb’s?
Or running their very own Pinewood Derby?
There were lots of other interactive games and venues, as well as a scavenger hunt to complete as you moved into the various areas of the museum. We could hardly keep the boys from running from one area to another to see what was next and what other fun stuff they could do. We finished the scavenger hunt and earned a ribbon for our pack flag for our efforts. We finished off our day with lunch in the lounge, since we couldn’t go outside to eat.
The best part about it? The museum is FREE on Mondays! All that fun and no cost involved. You can’t get much better than that.