Our trip to the Ark Encounter………………………………………….

The Ark Encounter is suppose to be a full sized replica of the Ark as described in the Bible.  This is a very complex process in that there are numerous Bibles with numerous descriptions.  I believe the builders did the best they could with the various sources of information and created this replica.  It is located near the town of Williamstown, KY just south of Cincinnati, OH and just off route 75.

The organization that built this attraction also built another attraction known as The Creation Museum located in Petersburg, KY.  Petersburg is locate just south east of the Greater Cincinnati area.

During the construction of The Ark Encounter the issue of it being tax exempt in the state was questioned.  Also questioned was their employment application which supposedly asked the question “Are you a Christian?”.  I am not intimately familiar with all the details but the outcome was that it would be tax exempt and would be classified as a religious attraction.

Kathy, Myself, our daughter Julie, our son-in-law Mike, a friend of ours Dee and the three grand children all went this past Sunday, June 10th.  We met at 10AM and started up.  On our arrival we parked in a parking lot quit a distance from the Ark.  Along with the Ark were several zip lines, a petting zoo, camel rides, panning for gold, fossils or gems and many eating options from independent vendor type stands and a two story restaurant that provided a very nice and tasty buffet.  But first you needed to take a bus from the parking area to the attractions.  Julie planned ahead and got us all we needed for the most part on the internet.  She paid $48 each for her, Mike and Dee.  $38 each for Kathy and me (Senior Discount) and $15 for each grand child.  Plus $10 to park my truck and another $10 to park her minivan.  So, the total bill so far was $285 just to park and get the bus to the Ark.  Oh, did I mention that was plus tax.

We rode the bus up to the Ark and found the restaurant.  We paid an additional $19 each for Mike, Julie and Dee, $10 each for Kathy and me and $5 for each of the three kids.  That’s another $92 for a total of $377 plus tax.  On a positive note, the restaurant was huge.  Had two floors.  The buffet was huge and had a wide variety of options including breakfast items and lunch items.  The food was fantastic. I had things from the breakfast area and others in the group had lunch items.  Everyone thought the food was fantastic.  The restaurant was decorated with stuffed animals of various kinds which also made looking around interesting.  We finished up with some dessert and headed off to the Ark.

The Ark was huge as can be seen here comparing it’s size with our friend Dee.  It is 4 or 5 stories high but only 3 floors are open with exhibits.  The exhibits were amazing.  They described how the animals were kept and fed.  All items associated with the planning up to and including the elimination of waste.

This is just one example of the amazing wood work that went into the construction of the Ark.  However, not everything could be done as it was in the time.  I assume because of building codes or other restrictions.  So you did see some very large bolts and metal supports being used as well as piping for the fire suppression system.

Here is a picture inside the Ark of an area used for storage.  These are all earthen ware containers of various things to sustain the life of the humans and all the animals on board.

These are some of the cages for the smaller animals.  They all had an earthen ware container for water and a box for food to be provided for each animal.

These are cages for the larger animals.

And an example of one of the living areas.

Needless to say there was much more than I can cover in this blog article.  Again, there was a total of three floors with exhibits that were very well put together and well explained on placards at each exhibit.

After the Ark we went down to where the animals where kept at the park.  They had some unusual animals but the only ones you could really pet where the miniature goats.  Kathy and I wondered through the animal area while Mike and Julie paid more money to get a picture of the kids riding a camel.  They also paid for them to do the fossil and gem panning.  We stopped for some fresh made lemon aid in fancy containers and they were 4 dollars each.  But didn’t have to pay tax on that.  I think that was because it was considered food.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my brief description of our trip to the Ark Encounter.  I have mixed feelings about it.  I definitely think it was well worth the trip.  Of course I’m glad I was with our family but I think I would have gotten more out of the experience if it was just Kathy and me.  I think I would have had more time to enjoy the various displays and read more about them rather than be constantly keeping track of everyone.  Of course this is advertised as a religious attraction but in my opinion it’s a commercial operation just like any other.  I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in the bible or the history of those times.  But be prepared as it will cost a lot of money.

That’s the end of this blog entry.  Hope everyone is well and doing good.