Glass balcony
City Science area
In an effort to get to better know the city where I am doing time this summer – and to, perhaps, make this blog just a little less depressing – I made a brief visit to Worcester’s EcoTarium yesterday. TripAdvisor ranks it as the #2 attraction in Worcester (the #1 attraction, the Worcester Art Museum, was closed for the day). It is described by one TripAdvisor reviewer as “a good place to take young children” so my expectations were low. But I was moderately impressed. It is indeed a good place to take young children, but there were plenty of exhibits that I found interesting as well.
I would characterize the EcoTarium as a science museum with an ecological slant, with some zoo animals added as a sweetener. The zoo exhibits were not very interesting. They had a couple of rescued bald eagles, which might be of interest to people who have never seen a bald eagle up close and personal. There were also some interesting turtle species in their wetlands exhibit. But I was most attracted to the science exhibits which, while small (a shadow of Boston’s Museum of Science), were well done and engaging. Too often, in a small museum, exhibits tend to be broken or out of date. That wasn’t the case here.
Outdoor playground
There were small exhibits of the dynamic flow of both fog and wind and a nice explanation of why the top of Mount Washington is so windy. The balcony on the top floor had a glass floor which wasn’t actually an exhibit, but did test my trust of the strength of glass.
The grounds are not extensive but are well-kept and had some hiking trails (which I didn’t try). There is also a small train that runs around the perimeter, which I also didn’t try.
Summary: not great, but not bad. I may bring my granddaughter here, to see how a teen reacts.
Fog flow exhibit
Train
Another playground area