THE ARK ENCOUNTER (Part 1)
Today we woke up excited because this is the day we go to see The Ark. This has been on my bucket list ever since I heard about it.
Lucky for us were about 10 miles away so it took no time at all to get there. The rain had moved out and it was a pretty day with big patches of blue sky and big white clouds.
We were able to get on the shuttle bus as soon as we got there. We each had our royal blue "Delaware" sweatshirts on so that in case we were separated we would be able to spot each other easily. Remember this, it comes into play later.
Before we went to the ark itself, we stopped in the visitor center. We watched a movie all about how the Ark Encounter came to be. It was quite interesting. We do wish it had more of the actual building of the ark.
There's other things on the property besides the visitor's center and the ship. One can ride a camel or a zip line, pets some animals in the petting zoo and buy some ice cream all within a short distance of each other.
On the property there is also a full sized restaurant that serves an all you can eat buffet.
A million people a year come to Williamstown to see the Ark Encounter. I would imagine its very busy in the summer. Today it wasn't crowded at all. At times there was no around us, on the grounds and in the ark. We liked it this way very much. We never felt rushed or that we were in someones way.
Having gone through the rest of the visitor's center we headed out towards the one thing I couldn't wait to see.
When we first set eyes on the ark we were amazed and in awe of the size. At 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high it is quite impressive.
Along the walkway leading up to the ark are replicas of 2 elephants, 2 giraffes, 2 lions and a fourth but I don't remember what it was.
The closer we got it became more apparent just how enormous this structure is. Massive. Everything about it is BIG! The size of the center beam, the the size of the ribs, just simply everything.
Walking in with most of the people who came on the same shuttle and after seeing the movie together we walked as a group kinda, sorta.. I couldn't help but notice that as we approached the entry way to the ark that couples clasped hands and we gathered in a file.....and entered the ark two by two.
I can't describe the feeling I had when we entered the ark other than magical or perhaps spiritual would be a better word.
We passed the "12 stones" and stopped to read the plaques.
WOOD! EVERYWHERE!
Cages for the small animals.
This is where grains were kept to feed Noah and his family.
Walt, ever the carpenter, checking out how it was built.
This is where the small reptiles were kept.
Water was kept in these.
Two of each.
The sheer size of the timbers used was just unbelievable.
No comments:
Post a Comment