The End of Another American Wax Museum: Farewell, Natural Bridge Wax Museum

Natural Bridge Wax Museum, the first wax museum Kim ever visited (at age 10), the first wax museum Elijah ever visited (at age 9 months), and the first wax museum Gwen ever visited (at age 14 months), is closing.  We're lamenting the loss of these treasures--the 171+ figures from this site and the wax museum genre in general.  Wax museums, like taxidermy displays in natural history museums, inspire imagination in ways supposedly more "interactive" displays do not.  In the past year, we've seen the closing of the National Civil War Wax Museum in Gettysburg, PA, too.  We suggest you immediately take in a wax museum if you can--introduce your kids to one while we have them.  Here's a plus on this one, right now:  Before closing Labor Day 2014, the Natural Bridge Wax Museum is offering reduced admission and a great sale on postcards in the gift shop (a penny each!). 

The Natural Bridge Wax Museum is an interesting hodgepodge of tableaus with touches of humor.  There are Biblical scenes of Adam and Eve in the Garden, of the Last Supper, and of the Resurrection--and the museum owner is an Orthodox Jew.  There are two famous displays of wax figure Presidents--and there's a George Bush figure also serving as a security guard.  We also swear we saw a figure of former Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis downstairs in the wax figure factory exhibit.  Scenes of history include serious scenes of the US Civil War--and a scene of a truly scary "elevator" that once lowered folks down Natural Bridge and of a silly story where a gentleman traded his wife for whisky.  Check out our family visiting the museum a few years earlier here. 

This article captures the tone surrounding the closure of wax museums, although we're pretty sure it contains an error, as the Harpers Ferry John Brown Wax Museum seems to still be in operation.  Yes, you can still buy wax figures, and some will still be made in Virginia.  Find out more about Dorfman Museum Figures if you are interested.

If you go, take lots of pictures and/or video (both are encouraged) and talk to the museum staff.  We met very friendly workers on this visit, and they told us fun stories like the fact that authorities visit annually to make sure the still in the moonshine scene isn't really making anything!  You should also visit the main Natural Bridge gift shop--we hear they are redoing it sometime soon and that it will sell less "kitsch."  Therefore, we stocked up on Natural Bridge snowglobes today.  Visit here first and you may find some $2 off admission coupons (good if you don't have AAA).  You can mail those penny postcards from the Natural Bridge Post Office downstairs in the main gift shop building, too.  Of course, there are many other attractions at Natural Bridge, including the splendid bridge itself and caverns, as well as two nearby zoos: the Natural Bridge Zoo and the Virginia Safari Park.  If you like to follow the changing landscape of roadside tourism in America, check in here frequently, as there is a move to make the Natural Bridge complex a Virginia State Park. 

If you just want to learn about wax museums, the blog Houses of Wax is a good place to start--even if it hasn't been updated in a while.  We hear some of the Natural Bridge figures are headed to Bible Walk in Ohio, where some may be repurposed into other scenes.  That's always fun--ask Justin if you'd like to be able to spot MASH characters and others from Gatlinburg's former wax museum in Christ in the Smokies displays. 

We Found Another Train Museum: North Carolina Transportation Museum

There's a transportation museum in the area the Haltermans hadn't visited?  There was!  Recently, Kim and Elijah took a guided tour of Spencer, NC,'s North Carolina Transportation Museum with an organized group from Roanoke's Virginia Museum of Transportation.  We saw Roanoke's engineering landmark 611 under restoration on our trip, but even if you have no special purpose in going, it is easy to make a day of train fun or family fun at this museum.  The museum is in fact more fully described by the term site--it's big.

If you like to think about such things, it's easy to marvel about how this place stays so attractive--even for a self-professed museum snob like Kim--with a mainly volunteer workforce.  It includes a restored depot, an impressive roundhouse, and other exhibit buildings, all in restored railroad structures like shops buildings.  A Wright flyer replica is on display, as are many restored train engines ranging from steam to electric diesels.  You can take a 25-minute train ride and a standing ride on a turntable for minimal extra cost.  Elijah particularly enjoyed seeing the five fire vehicles under restoration in the back shops building--but know you can't get too close to these and need to see them from a viewing platform.  This place is a vast 57 acres, and if you are traveling with any transportation buffs (including vehicle-minded preschoolers), you can make a day of it.  Kim has many friends who take kids day tripping to the North Carolina Zoo and is a bit surprised more folks don't make similar pilgrimages to this site, too.  It's a hidden gem that's more reasonably priced. 

If you go, know that Spencer's a small place but this site is not--dress for walking in the weather.  It's a great place for a picnic--there's a shelter.  Going on a field trip?  This site seems able to customize things for your group.  Going as an adult, no kids?  Check out the excursion offerings and make it a weekend or take a special tour and make it more informative.  There's a toy museum in the area, too.  We felt very close to Winston-Salem, which would make combining a repeat trip with an excursion to Old Salem doable.

Transportation is Everywhere: The Antique Automobile Club of America Museum

Since Elijah's birth, our family has learned a lot about transportation thanks to his interest in it.  During a recent trip to Pennsylvania, this interest inspired us to discover the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Museum, a gorgeous facility devoted mainly to antique cars. 

It's not your average transportation-type museum--in fact, it is a Smithsonian affiliate.  The building is clean and classy; the set up is on theme and beautiful; you will quickly see why it moonlights as a wedding reception venue.  Areas of the museum are designed to look like, say, a drive-in movie theater, providing a wonderful backdrop that allows you to explain often-forgotten technologies to young kids.  There's a permanent display of cars ranging up to the 1980s, and there are changing vehicle exhibits, too.  When we were there, a small fire engine was on display to Elijah's delight.  An impressive collection of buses forms a bus-museum-within-a-museum and includes a bus featured in the movie Forrest Gump and a bus that featured stewardess-type service.  Other vehicles on display include a hearse used to transport alcohol during prohibition and a collection of a dozen or so early motorcycles.  Expect a nod to visual art as well; a gallery was full of vehicle photos, and there were cases of hood ornaments. 

Within the collection, you'll also find delights of Americana including an actual diner (yep, the real thing) that you can enter and a room of model train displays with a few interactive components.  These components of the museum are different than antique cars, but they sure are fun. 

If you go, know you are very, very close to the Hershey's Chocolate attractions, including Chocolate World, which easily can be paired with a museum visit in a single travel day.  Within the museum, you'll find a children's play area featuring a few train tables and various toys as well as tables near vending machines--it's a comfortable place to give kids a break.  There's a AAA museum entry discount--always ask. 

An Introduction to the Factory Tour: Chocolate World and Utz Potato Chips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ask Elijah what he wants to be when he grows up, and he'll tell you he wants to be a firefighter.  Ask him what else he might want to do, and he'll tell you he wants to be a factory worker.  In our tradition of wanting to indulge our kids' interests a bit (we can't wait to find out what more of Gwen's are!), Kim took Elijah and Gwen on two kid-friendly factory tours while Justin "historied" in nearby Gettysburg. It was a milestone trip in that Gwen seemed to engage as much as Elijah.

In Hershey, Pennsylvania, we obviously found Hershey's Chocolate.  Hershey's Chocolate World is a simulated factory tour that features a free ride through of a factory mock up that also includes anamatronic singing cows for the entertainment value.  Elijah and Gwen both loved the ride--so much so that we rode it four times.  There's also a large chocolate/souvenir store with a food court and a few other attractions, like a pay-per-view 4D movie and an opportunity to create your own chocolate bar, that you can purchase.  There's no cost for the ride and for parking at the site under three hours, however, and with two small ones, we did the inexpensive trip and didn't regret it. 

In Hanover, Pennsylvania, we chose Utz Potato Chips, which is, in Mom Kim's opinion, the ideal factory tour for young kids.  The tour is self-paced and includes a walk along an observation deck so you can see the factory in operation; recordings play on demand to explain what you see.  The kids loved watching the action and, in Elijah's case, learning some content.  Highlights included seeing potatoes "dump" off a truck into the factory and watching the forklifts.  There's a nearby outlet store a very short drive away that sells a great variety of affiliated snack foods, including Kim's new favorite chip (Zapp's in many flavors).  While we skipped their tour as we were unsure how Gwen would fare on it, Snyder's of Hanover is nearby, as is Renovah Pretzels.  Both offer regular tours, and we tried Renovah but were offered a chilly welcome and were informed that their website provided inaccurate information about their abilty to provide tours.  If you go, talk to them beforehand--we are in sincere hopes we caught this small bakery operation on a bad day.

If you go, check out TripAdvisor for up-to-date reviews and tips, especially about crowds at the Hershey site, and bring a cooler for any choocolate you might buy.  Kim also considered the Turkey Hill Experience, which may be right for your family and is nearby but didn't appeal as much to us this time.  If you are going with family members who aren't preschoolers, check out the Steel Toe Tour at the Harley Davidson plant (you must be 12 or older).  We took each factory tour we selected on separate days, paring them with other attractions in their respective cities and/or in Gettysburg, to cut down on driving for us. 

Now Here's Something Different: Town Creek Indian Burial Mound

 

Kim gets really curious about roadside signs pointing to unusual attractions.  On our way back to Virginia from a recent trip to Holden Beach, we spotted a sign for the Town Creek Indian Burial Mound.  This prompted memories of Kim's feelings of intrigue when presented with aerial pictures of such structures in her 6th grade social studies book.  So, Justin, being the thoughtful person he is, drove a few miles through rural North Carolina byways to find one.  And, by the way, you can definitely get there with the aid of your GPS and multiple directional brown "attraction" road signs.

About 15 minutes off 220, and we'd found the small park, an official North Carolina State Historic Site.  We were expecting some informative plaques and something hard to see; we were pleasantly surprised by the interpretation present.  There's a small staffed visitors' center that includes an exhibit with a short film, information on the mound's archeology, and the history of the site's development.  There's also a gift shop that sells, among other items, a reasonable selection of local history books and academic books related to the site.  Most significantly, there's a reconstructed Indian village including an earthen fortress protecting an actual burial mound.  You enter through a guard tower, proceed to a recreation of clan's funeral ceremony presented using wax figures and recordings, and climb the mound to a small space used for worship and ceremony.  This isn't a mound in the shape of an animal, so you will be able to experience the site directly by walking it. 

If you go, pick a day when you'll be comfortable outside for about 20-30 minutes if possible.  Know you'll be "off the beaten path"--this site is not right next door to fast food outlets, gas stations, etc. and is in a truly rural location.  There's no actual admission charge, but it's good to give a small donation.  We're coming to enjoy the North Carolina Historic Sites and encourage you to explore them.  This one is definitely worth your hour.   

Nearby Wilderness: Virginia Safari Park

It must be the year of the zoo for the Haltermans.  Justin and Elijah are just back from Virginia Safari Park, commonly known in the area as Natural Bridge Safari Park, and E's fourth zoo visit this year.  This zoo is a drive-thru safari--yes, you read correctly.  You literally drive your vehicle, or ride an open-air wagon, through an expansive zoo that looks like the African veldt, only with Virginia hills inserted.  You are able to buy a bucket of feed and invited to get close to animals including zebras, camels, kangaroos, and others.  Elijah especially enjoyed the aviary in the "Safari Village," a small walk-through area.  He also loved the opportunity to use his new camera to take pictures--in fact, these are his pictures above.  We realize not all our Halterman Weekend destinations are popular, but this one's a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence winner, a testament not only to fun to be had but also to broad-based appeal. 

If you go, Justin explicitly recommends planning to take one of the wagon rides for an additional charge so you don't worry about your car/driving.  We have plenty of friends who have driven their vehicles through without issue, but we've also met folks who've had vehicle damage like scratches or who have been distracted by their own concerns about driving in an unfamiliar situation so much that they haven't enjoyed the experience as they might have otherwise.  You will need to plan your trip accordingly, as wagons don't run continuously, and you can find out more at the public wagon rides page.  If you are weighing the option of using your vehicle, read the specific requirments at the FAQ page.  It's a great attraction to experience as a group--a family with siblings/friends, an organized school/scout/church group, you get the idea.  Wear weather-appropriate clothes that won't mind a little animal slobber, too.  Picnics are allowed and there's a snack stand; for nearby casual food, try the retro Pink Cadillac Diner.  Don't confuse this destination with Natural Bridge Zoo, a more traditional zoo that is not included in your safari admission price. 

While you are in the area, check out other Natural Bridge attractions.  It would be easy to "add on" one of the "quick visit" attractions like Foamhenge.  As admission to the zoo is good all day long, you could also do a morning drive thru followed by another attraction/lunch and then a repeat drive thru--just keep your receipt.