Joe’s museum opens on Monday, and last Sunday we took our families for a sneak peak during Employee Family Day. Boy, did we have fun. I had been there just a couple weeks before for our company barbecue, and it was amazing to see how much had been added in that short amount of time.

The museum is nothing short of spectacular. When you walk in, you enter the Great Hall with an Appatosaurus skeleton.

There are four galleries to see: a mineral gallery, a fossil gallery, a transportation gallery and a children’s area. The mineral gallery contains minerals found here in Georgia as well as throughout the country and the world. There is a display of birthstones and a periodic table with samples of most elements. The rare and radioactive elements are represented by pictures. The table takes up an entire wall, and I can’t wait to see it when it’s finished. I know it’s going to be amazing.

The fossil gallery contains numerous skeletons of dinosaurs, fish and other mammals. It’s fascinating because the skeletons are true to size. Those animals were massive! The T-Rex skeleton was on display in the former mineral museum, but that building was so small that there was only enough room for T-Rex’s head. Now, his head and body are reunited. I’m sure he feels a lot better now.

One of my favorite parts of the fossil gallery is the Megaladon mouth at the end. It is 9 feet wide and close to 5 feet tall. I told Joe it would make a great photo op if it was brought down off the display case, don’t you think?

The transportation gallery is just as cool with replicas of all eras of transportation. There is a Bell-47 helicopter.

And a replica of the Apollo capsule and the cockpit of a Jetstar airplane.

The children’s gallery is probably my favorite. I could spend hours in there, as could any other adult I’ve talked to. There are so many neat activities. I can’t wait to take Harry there when he comes back this summer.

There also is a planetarium, the only digital one in metro Atlanta or north Georgia. It’s incredible. I could sit in there all day. I’ve seen one of the three shows, and I can’t wait to see the other two. One is about the skies here in Cartersville, and it will be neat to see that and then go home and look at the night sky.

And, of course, we took a family shot in the fossil gallery. I was surprised we were able to round everyone up! We all seemed to be in various places in the museum.

So, those of you living in Chattanooga need to come check out our new museum! And, for any of you who may travel to Atlanta, make sure you put this on your itinerary. It’s absolutely amazing and definitely worth the trip.