We arrived with our friends, the Clutterhams, at the Ark Encounter at about noon. This full-size replica of Noah’s Ark was only built last year, so it was a first time for everyone. We started off with some family photos with the ark in the background.
You can’t really appreciate the size, though, until you are up close. Then you realize just how enormous this boat was.
The impressive entrance ramp on the outside is just for visual display, as the actual entrance is through the base at one end (and the exit is through the gift shop at the other end).
Inside, the ark is divided into three levels, just as Noah’s was. Each level is essentially a museum focused on a different aspect of the ark/flood account. It was on the first level, I believe, where they have lots and lots of animal reconstructions, and they didn’t choose to recreate your standard fox and ostrich, but they had some rather exotic creatures that they think existed on the ark (and that would be more interesting to visitors than a fox and ostrich).
There were lots of explanatory displays that Mark noted answered a lot of his questions. I agree that they did a good job with this, though it’s difficult to retain it all as you move through so many displays. We purchased one book that seems like it contains a good bit of the technological aspects of the ark that were mentioned in the displays.
It is not easy to get a sense for the ark’s internal construction when you are inside, and I think the photo below is about the best I could do. The large beams on the left are in the center of the ark.
Other exhibits featured members of Noah’s family, with descriptions of how they may have occupied their time. There was some imagination involved in some of these displays, and I’m ambivalent about how I feel about that. On the positive side, they were right to emphasize that Noah’s family was smart, industrious, and likely had different interests.
Some areas of the ark demonstrated how foodstuffs may have been stored and how the animals would have been fed. It would have been quite a job to feed them all without some sorts of systems. The displays suggested some possibilities.
There are some real animals on the ark, but they are held in the petting zoo. The kids enjoyed touching the donkeys and goats.
After some time in the gift store and then a goodbye to the Clutterhams, we headed toward the hotel for the night. For our one dinner in Kentucky, we appropriately ate out at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
