So, if I haven’t said it before, I am kind of a geek. I am an incredibly passionate person, and I tend to get obsessed with, and geek out on, any number of things all of the time. And, coincidentally, I also love that.
Well, one of my obsessions is dinosaurs. I LOVE dinosaurs. Sometimes I wish I just would have grown up to be a paleontologist. Fortunately, I am raising three boys, so I still get my fill of dinosaurs on a nearly daily basis. As part of this dinosaur obsession, my family and I visit dinosaur museums and exhibits as often as we can. This year, the Mary G Hardin Center for Cultural Arts in Gadsden hosted an exhibit called Dinosaurs Alive!. It was a collection of animatronic dinosaurs and dinosaur themed activities for the kids.
The exhibit was not as big as I had hoped, but tickets also included admission to the Children’s Museum so we were able to explore that as well. By far my favorite part of the trip, however, was this amazing little courtyard between the Children’s Museum and the cultural arts center. It was a nice enough day that we could sit outside without being roasted, especially with the nice shade trees around. The building used to be an old theater and was built in the 1900s, so you could see all of the old details. Some of the original windows were still in place and there was ivy growing up the sides of the building.
We grabbed lunch from the Courtyard Cafe, which was located in the complex. It was fantastic. It was the first time I had ever tried fried green tomatoes and I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious they were. The lunch itself would have been worth the trip, but getting to eat in that little courtyard made it so much better. It was a beautiful little place to enjoy lunch and take pictures, and I am sure that we will be back again.