Saturday

Two years ago, a $66million museum opened in Roanoke. People either love or hate the design. I like it, but it does look somewhat like a ship rising out of the middle of our otherwise quaint and picturesque downtown.


Attendance has not been as high as planners anticipated, and to stir interest in the museum, they have occasional free days. Today was one of them; a regular day would have cost us about $40 to get in.


Gorgeous first floor; all exhibits are on the second floor.


Our stand out favorite was the stunning corrugated cardboard sculpture.



The artist was at the museum today, giving demonstrations to children, who could make their own 3D fish replicating his method. I tried to talk Trevor into doing it, but even he's getting a bit old for this stuff. It just hurts this momma's heart a little that my babies really are growing up. He did admire this fish though . . .


Another interesting piece--made of spools of thread, and then viewed through the lens which turned the piece right-side up (upside down?).


And that was about it. There were a half dozen or so rooms, each with small exhibits inside (some had one piece each). And of course some of the "art" had Trevor joking that he could do the same thing with Legos or toilet paper rolls. (He could.) Actually, overall it was rather a disappointment.

We then meandered into the gift shop, usually a place we avoid. But this was different. We laughed about spending more time admiring the various displays here than we did in the exhibit halls. There was a variety of art books, knick-knacks for kids, and many offerings by local artists, along with a mish-mash of other interesting merchandise. Robert bought each of the kids a pair of chopsticks. (Trevor adores eating with chopsticks, and I suppose Holly would do it for fun.) Ironically, the gift shop was the saving grace of the museum, and I'm glad we saved it for last!



Our next stop was Maggie Moo's, our first visit here since moving to Virginia three years ago. Oh, decisions, decisions! It was something to sit outside eating ice cream a week before Thanksgiving. (This means it was warm!)


We headed home, and I begged Robert to get a picture of the moon rising over the hills.


It seems that everyone is burning leaves today, we passed four burn fires in the five minutes between the highway and home. The smoky haze made a lovely sky.

And there's that moon again.


. . . the moon and stars to rule by night,
for His mercy endures forever.
Ps. 136:9