DISCOVERY WORLD

My son and his family visited earlier this month, and during their stay we visited Discovery World, an interactive museum located in downtown Milwaukee.  The venue, which is housed in its own building on the shores of Lake Michigan, includes a curious mixture of exhibits and is pricy but is generally well done.  Many of its exhibits are a bit mature for my 3- and 5-year-old grandsons, but they took advantage of what they could absorb.

The museum includes a number of sections.  These include a small ship housed inside the building that can be explored, a nice diverse aquarium,  a crafts area, a series of hands-on exhibits that illustrate basic principles of physics and technology, such as momentum, pulleys and levers, and an area devoted to guitars (seemed incongruous, but there it was).  In addition, the museum serves as the home anchor for a reconstructed tall ship, the Denis Sullivan, which unfortunately was cruising out in the lake at the time of our visit.  

Here are some of the photos that I got.

First, a couple of shots of the building's exterior.

A shot of my family hoisting me by taking advantage of a pulley system.

Jellyfish in the fine aquarium, which included a section that allows the visitor to walk through a glass archway with fish swimming both on the sides and above.

The aquarium area also included a number of reptiles, including the following snake.

I'm not sure of the function of the following stylized sculpture, but it made an interesting subject to photograph.

Finally, a shot in the guitar section.  

In fairness, Les Paul, who was a long-term resident in the Milwaukee area before his death a few years ago, was a major innovator in guitar technology and construction, and the exhibit pays homage to his contributions.

The museum has a pleasant exterior, including an amphitheater that offered some interesting black & white opportunities.

John