During our Summer vacation trip to Virginia, my husband and I make it a tradition to bring our three teens to an educational or historical place and the Science Museum of Virginia was on our bucket list.

In short, it was not without it's positives and negatives, but it definitely was worth the time. Along with the ticket entry fee, we also opted to see the Dome Theater Show about the different weather on each planet and most appreciatively they offered us a military discount.

When we first visited the museum, we were welcomed by some amazing Earth sculptures in the front of the building. These sculptures spun slowly from the force of the water and the information gave us some insights as to the distance of the Earth to the Sun.

Upon entering the museum, there was a swinging pendulum in the center of the vaulted entry that showed the entire map of the world. Then the first room past the ticket area was filled with information, examples, and real time interactivity on speed and motion. This room displayed an amazing shell of the SR-71 Blackbird supersonic jet. It was rather breath taking to us as we were prior Air Force and take pride in such amazing aircraft. We were also able to experience the feel of various different hurricanes through a wind tunnel and we even challenged a robot to some air hockey. You can see the video of our game from our travel blog in my profile.

Moving further into the museum we saw how much mobile technology and social media had changed from then to now. It was a perfect example of how speed through the wires has advanced over time. The amount of people who are using these devices and accessing social media networks is mind numbing and yet a bit frightening as to how much we depend on these.

We made our way through the museum in a little under 65 minutes before reaching the Dome Theater. ​The Dome features live astronomy presentations, Cosmic Expeditions, and Giant Screen Movies on the most technologically advanced digital dome theater in the world. The theater had a concession stand where we bought popcorn, snacks, and drinks before getting in line to watch the show. The show itself was quite educational and very motion strong. Since I have motion sickness and equilibrium issues, I found myself looking away every now and then as the Dome provides a virtual reality effect of space travel. If you have any similar issues, I would recommend passing up on the Dome Theater.

The museum is smaller than some of the other museums we have been through, but it was quick enough for us to learn quite a few new discoveries and have time left over in the day to move onto something else.