Description: National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
350 East 3rd Street
Port of Dubuque
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
THE AQUARIUMS
The aquariums with Mississippi exhibits we did visit and I was astounded by the size and ugliness of the catfish. The alligator garfish were also pretty impressive but the ones that I was most taken with were the turtles. There is something very appealing about both turtles and tortoises and these are always a winner for me.
One of the exhibits is a huge model catfish that you are invited to put your hand into the mouth of. I did but I think it was broken as nothing happened at all which was a little disappointing!
The beavers were a little shy but if you were patient and waited they came out and spent some time cleaning themselves. I wanted to see them swimming but it was also fascinating watching them groom each other, they are very sweet looking beasts.
THE CARVER WET LAB
E didn’t spend a lot of time in here but it is the interactive area for children and families. Staff are there to explain and share information about the various exhibits. Children are encouraged to touch and feel things like beaver skins while in the touch tanks children can feel crayfish, snails and freshwater mussels with staff to guide them. It is a bit like in the Sea Life centres in the UK.
INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS
Around the museum there were so many of these from watching the river change over the years to sorting out problems of pollution and everyone was so clever. They were informative and also quite challenging. It is always better to help someone work out a solution rather than just give information as that way they remember it better and it becomes a real learning experience. These exhibits were really perfect and if I had a class of children learning about rivers, transport riverlife or pollution this would be a perfect place to bring them. One of the best of these inter active exhibits was the journey down the river from a bird's eye perspective, starting at the headwaters in Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota and going all the way to the to the Louisiana delta which was quite some trip.
THE WOODWARD WETLAND
As you walk outside, after having a ‘chat’ with mark twain in his bench you can make you way across the board walk through the wetland area. We were there in the heat of summer and late afternoon so we struggled to see any animals at all. I think they were all hiding in the shade somewhere. We could however see the Native American wikiup or wigwam which is a domed shaped dwelling used by local Native American tribes and an old restored fur-trader's log cabin set in amongst the foliage.
THE W.M.BLACK
After walking through the wetland on the board walks you come to a jetty leading to the huge dredger the W.M.Black which used to dredge the river in this area. It was built in 1934 and was a steam driven paddle wheeler. You are welcomed aboard by a member of staff who explains a bit about the ship and its role on the river. He explains that the tour is self guided and basically follow the arrows around until you get back down to him. If you have any questions then he will happily try to answer them.
Initially you go and view the engines and you cannot help but be impressed by the size of the different parts. As you go up the different steps which are NOT disable friendly as they are very steep and narrow. We were able to see the dining room, the galley and the bedrooms of the crew which were far from luxurious. Everything was painted in a sort of gunmetal grey and was functional rather than comfortable. The pilot’s deck was impressive and large, it never ceases to amaze me how they steer a ship from that high up especially as a ship’s reaction time is so slow.
FOOD AND DRINK
There are two options for food and drink but as we didn’t try either I cannot comment on what they are like. Either you can eat indoors or on our riverside patio at the River's Edge Café in the National River Center or snacks are available next to an open air aquarium in the Mississippi River Center.
BITS WE MISSED
The 3D cinema was extra and we were not interested in see the films there. The special exhibition on the Amazon river and species found there was upstairs but again we didn’t investigate that. The Pfohl Family Boatyard where you can tour the Logsdon towboat, see some steamboat artifacts, and visit a recreation of a historic blacksmith shop and this didn’t really grab our attention either.
EXTRA INFORMATION
You entry ticket allows you entry for two consecutive days so if you did want to go back and see the parts you missed on one day you can. If you paid a bit extra £3 you can get a ticket that will allow you entry into two further places in or near Dubuque and those are the Mathias Ham House historic site and the Old Jail Museum both properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As our time was limited we didn’t go for the extra visits for $3.
The toilets were easily accessible as was the entire museum apart from the W.M. Black steps. They were also clean but I would expect nothing less in the USA in this sort of place.
There is the inevitable gift shop with books and souvenirs but I managed to avoid going there as we don’t buy souvenirs generally as our house is cluttered enough!
WOULD I RECOMMEND?
Yes I think so. It gave a great oversight of what the Mississippi River has contributed to America over the years. So many people have been inspired by the river and many others have shaped the river’s history through exploration, engineering or working on and around the river. This museum looked at the past, the present and then also looked at problems that may occur from pollution and using the river in the future. I loved the inter active displays as these are just perfect for children to learn from. I thought the level of information was just right with enough to keep you interested without over doing it.
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