So today, since it is my day off, I decided to take my nephew Thomas down to Jackson to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. We struck out a little after 8 in the morning and headed South. There wasn't much dialogue on the trip down there other than ten minutes into the trip he needed to go to the bathroom. So we stop in Winona and he is just completely in awe of the truck stop. I have to agree, I thought they were cool when I was a kid as well. Hats, hot dogs, slushies, you name it. Paradise for a youth. After some gentle persuasion, I talk him out of the hot dog and pink lemonade. Its 8:30 in the morning, I just could not allow it to happen, even though I wanted too. So we get back on the road and talk a little bit and he tells me that he about what he wants to do when he grows up and too my surprise he wants to work in the kitchen with me at night and cut grass during the day. I found this interesting as it would be possible to do so and his logic explained that clearly because he said, he had to have something to do during the day, so why not cut grass. Then he proceeded to ask me if 'Sponge Bob' was my favorite cartoon when I was his age. I could almost see the disappointment when I told him that 'Bob' wasn't around back them. His reply was, " Really, then what was on". I guess Sponge Bob is held in high esteem these days in his world and that is fine. He-man was the shit when I was a kid. He then proceeds to take a nap and wakes up a little bit before we get there. He is pumped, I am pumped so we roll up to the museum and as I expected a modest crowd and thank heavens for it. The museum is nice. It is not to big and it is not to small. It is really the perfect size. Completely equipped with fish that are indigenous to the Mississippi area in perfectly sized aquariums with details on the side to assist in identifying the species. We had a good bit of fun doing that. On the back wall there are stuffed creatures that you would find in the State as well. They are depicted in scenes that would evoke there natural habitat. He was really drawn to the bears for some reason.
As we progressed through the museum, we came upon the infamous two headed snake. A rattler to be exact and he was in complete awe, as was I, of this specimen. He stared at it for at least 5 minutes. I don't know if it was fear or confusion, but I broke his attention with a gentle, hey check out that turtle. You can really blow through the museum pretty fast but I wanted to see everything it had to offer and I wanted to make sure he did as well so we went back through it a time or two more. The five young alligators was another crowd pleaser, although it was rather scary with them just staring right at you. Its like they were tempting you, waiting, judging, sizing you up. Letting you know that you had better pray to god this damn tank doesn't burst open or me and my friends will be all over you. So we finish up the exhibits and hit up the souvenir shop. He gets some dinosaurs and bugs that expand when soaked in water for a few days for him and his brother to play with, and a kaleidoscope for his little sister, which is pretty cool. I get a t-shirt.
After the museum, we decided to grab some lunch. Initially he had decided on Back-yard Burger, but all it took was the Rat on a pole aka the sign to Chuck E. Cheese for a quick change of the mind. After an evasive three lane switch in 65 mile per hour traffic we landed safely on the exit ramp to get to the famed mouse haven. Apparently Chuck is feeling the effects of the world we live in today as well. Its not cheap. An individual pizza with 6 small slices is $7 and you have to pay for the drink separately. No big deal, I just thought they would have a pizza, drink and a few tokens for $10 kinda thing going on. Nonetheless, we ordered and then cashed in some bucks for some coins to play games. He rocked out on the skeeball and the wave runner game before eating. After we finished the meal, we slid the ole credit card in the machine and scored some more coins. You gotta keep the party going, you know. We burned it up for about twenty minutes or so more and at that point my pocket was overflowing with tickets. It was getting close to the time that I wanted to try and get out of town so we cashed in our chips and went to the store to see what we could get. Too my surprise, he picked out stuff for his older brother and his little sister before he even acknowledged getting anything for himself. What a good kid I thought. That is twice today he has acknowledged his siblings even though they aren't here. They were not in attendance because of prior engagements on both of there parts. He had nothing to do or no activities planned, hence the reason we went.
All in all, it was a fun day. The museum was cool and I think he liked it as well. It is kinda hard to displease a kid with Chuck E. Cheese. If there is a fault to be had from the day, it is where the hell are the singing Beatles that used to occupy Chuck E. Cheese? Nowhere to be found. Nowhere. However, the mind of an 8 year old in unique. Still developing and hungry for knowledge. I think I did a small part in adding to that knowledge today.
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