Kevin C.
Yelp
About a week before we made a visit to Tellus Science Museum, I found out that general admission to Tellus Science Museum is free for all Bank of America (credit) cardholders (but not for their friends or family members who aren't cardholders) during the first full weekend of each month. This freebie also applies to many other places (zoos, aquariums, museums, science centers, to visit across the nation. Check for participating institutions on Bank of America's webpage for "Museums on Us." You can thank me later. :-D This is a great place to visit for just about anyone.
Tellus Science Museum is in Cartersville, Georgia, less than an hour drive from Atlanta. This museum is just off of Interstate 75, and is easy to get to. The parking lot is large and free, and away from the main building is a large covered picnic area with lots of tables (think multiple kids' summer camps field trips all at once being there). Arrive early so that you have lots of time to enjoy all of the exhibits and four different shows currently being hosted in the Bentley Planetarium. The main building is a nice stroll from the parking lot. The ticket counter is inside the front doors, just past the first exhibit (Foucault's Pendulum - that illustrates the earth's rotation) that I'm sure some people miss. General admission cost is dependent on age, unless they qualify for free admission (such as active duty military personnel and their family members, Tellus Science Museum members, etc.). Ticket costs to the various Bentley Planetarium shows are also dependent on the age of the attendee., but (currently) the most that anyone will pay per show is $5. The employee at the ticket counter was very knowledgeable and helpful, offering suggestions for which shows we should get tickets for based on her questions of what we were interested in seeing. Near the entrance/exit doors is the museum gift shop. I suggest visiting the gift store right before exiting the building.
Once visitors get past the ticket counter, they walk into a big space with a brontosaurus skeleton. This space is the middle of the building, so this is a great meeting place if anyone in your group gets separated. Depending on which direction you walk in, you can get to the planetarium and enjoy the shows (tickets required for each showing); the Fossil Gallery; the Weinman Mineral Gallery; My Big Backyard; Science In Motion Gallery; Fossil Dig and Gem Panning; and other exhibits. We got here when the museum opened at 10am, enjoyed walking through the Fossil Gallery, then one of the shows in the planetarium, had lunch in the Cafe (reasonable priced food and drinks), saw another show in the planetarium, walked through the Weinman Mineral Gallery, went through the Science in Motion Gallery and ended our visit at the Gift Store. All this took about four hours. I took a lot of pics and enjoyed the time here. One of the exhibits that I didn't visit was My Big Backyard, which is a great hands-on, interactive place for families with kids. This exhibit was, not surprisingly, also the noisiest place in the museum.
The Science in Motion Gallery was my favorite because of the car, motorcycle, plane, helicopter and space vehicle displays. I'm an Air Force veteran and I also used to work in the aerospace industry, so some of the exhibits had special meaning to me. We also enjoyed both of the shows "Live Tour Of Tonight's Sky" and "Tales Of A Time Traveler." These shows were captivating, so much that even the many kids that attended the "Tales Of A Time Traveler" (which was almost a full house) were quiet through just about the entire show. During both of the planetarium shows, the employees did a great job narrating the show throughout, and we could tell that they knew their scripts very well. Stars and planets were depicted overhead, and the best seats to view the shows are in the back row, although all of the seats are slightly reclined and have headrests.
This was my first time visiting Tellus Science Museum and it was a great visit. According to the museum website, many of the galleries and exhibits are rotated out every six months or so, so I can see us visiting twice a year.