Finne's Follies: Rockets and Space

Friday, April 22, 2022

Rockets and Space

I've always been enamored by the stars and space, and space travel. As a kid I took a class trip to a planetarium and there and then fell in love with stars. Later I pinned a star map to my wall. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with science fiction, an interest I've carried my entire life.

I still have newspaper clippings of the moon landing tucked away in my keepsake box.

One might think it strange who knows me, since I don't believe life exists anywhere else in the universe. Nevertheless, exploring the vast beauty of God's creation is a noble venture-- so long as one doesn't lose sight of the Creator in the process.

And fiction, science or otherwise, is just fiction.

But I digress.

Our first excursion in Alabama was to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, about 75 miles north of our campground. The Saturn V Hall has an authentic Saturn V rocket-- one of only three in the world, and the Center claims the largest collection of rockets and space memorabilia in the whole wide world. Unfortunately, what they didn't have was ... refrigerator magnets. Nope. No refrigerator magnets at all. I was sad about that. I almost bought a mug, but I didn't want to pay $15 for a coffee cup, so we left with no memorabilia of our own to show we'd been there. Still, it was a fun visit. We walked around the facility for about an hour plus the time it took to eat lunch at the Mars Grill.

Admission set us back $60, which would have been much more acceptable had there been no other charges. But every other museum "experience" has an additional admission charge of $10 or more per person. So if you're thinking of taking in everything the place has to offer, expect to drop a couple hundred bucks for two people. We decided to pass on the extras.

Here are a few more pictures...