TRAVEL: Mobile’s Exploreum, where adults play and children learn

After numerous drives through Mobile, Alabama, on Interstate 10, a few years ago we stopped for several days to explore the city. As is often the case during a first visit to a city, we were surprised at the number and variety of offerings of interest to visitors. We were able to gain a good overview of Mobile, but several places were of particular interest and we decided that someday we would return.

During our most recent visit in early April, we again stayed in downtown Mobile, where we were able to walk to shops, art galleries, restaurants and several attractions, including the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. This was one of the places where, following our earlier visit, we wanted to spend significantly more time.

Mobile’s Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center boasts 150 interactive exhibits plus an IMAX Dome Theatre. Along with the center’s other visitors, including about 100 second-graders and 25 middle-schoolers on field trips, we spent the entire morning and had a blast.

The science center began operating in 1976 as a nonprofit with the purpose of helping the residents of southern Alabama and the Gulf Coast region expand their knowledge of science. The center has grown through the years. In 1998, after 11 years of planning and fundraising, plus three years of construction, it moved into its current facility in downtown Mobile.

The Exploreum has five main areas including its IMAX Dome Theatre. During our visit, the theatre was showing two features, one on Africa and another on dinosaurs. We were able to fit in only the dinosaur film and it was excellent.

The Hands on Hall area contains numerous hands-on projects, including a table for constructing a paper airplane, testing it in a wind tunnel and then attempting to fly it through hoops suspended from above. The Hall contains more than 50 projects, most of which we tried. We talked to a young father who brought his 5-year-old son. He told us they had visited the Exploreum the previous day and it was all his son talked about during their evening at the hotel. Thus, they returned for a second day.

Located at the end of the Hands on Hall is a gated section for children up to 5 years old and their parents or caregivers. This area, called Wharf of Wonder, is quite colorful and filled with lots of developmental activities including a puppet theater.

The area most likely to capture adult interest is My Body Works, where interactive displays illustrate anatomy, exercise, and nutrition. The section includes a 12-foot-tall beating heart that periodically goes into cardiac arrest. Another exhibit is a screen with a 3-D heart that can be manipulated to view the valves opening and closing while blood passes through.

A life-size image of a prone body allows visitors to choose a view of the skeletal, muscular, cardiopulmonary, nervous or digestive systems. Selecting the cardiopulmonary system and placing the moveable screen over the area of the body where an organ is located offers an opportunity to view a video explaining the organ’s function.

In the center of the room, the Virtual Surgery Center allows visitors to perform a heart bypass and knee replacement. Here, we learned about laser and robotic surgery, making it easy to understand why each of us would have failed miserably as surgeons.

An Exploreum employee told us that nearly every child that visits the My Body Works finds the display that imitates body sounds. Here they especially enjoy pressing the fart button. Standing near this display we observed as six middle school girls pressed the button over and over while one of them took a video.

During our morning visit, we spent nearly four hours working with the interactive exhibits. The Exploreum’s literature states that it “provides hands-on learning experiences for the young and the young at heart” and “promotes virtues of lifelong learning and curiosity.” We learned a lot and had a great time.

Location: Downtown Mobile at 65 Government Street. For additional information visit www.Exploreum.com.

Entrance fees: Exhibits Only / Exhibits + IMAX: Adults: $12/$16; Age 13-17: $10.50/$17; Age 7-12: $10/$13.50; Ages 4-6: $5/$8.

Hours: Tues thru Thur, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Fri & Sat, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun, noon to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays.

Food: The Exploreum has a café. A variety of restaurants are within easy walking distance. Mobile has a wealth of excellent restaurants including Dauphin’s at the top of the RSA Trustmark Building. For excellent seafood, try Wintzell’s Oyster House at 605 Dauphin St. Bluegill is further away on the causeway, but worth the drive.

Lodging: Downtown Mobile has several hotels within walking distance of the Exploreum, including the Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel that is directly across the street.

For additional information on Mobile, visit www.mobile.org.