Yesterday was our trip to the Exploreum in Mobile, Al. We planned to go early as children become very rambunctious when they are tired. I was to meet the daughter at their house and we would all ride together. Upon my arrival, I learned they had a call in to the police as they awoke to their garage's electronic door open as well as the doors of the car in drive. At first it didn't appear that anything had been taken until they discovered the door opener on the visor was gone. The door would have to be reset but that meant missing what we had planned. Dave said we were going and they can take whatever they want. I understood his attitude as it makes the fourth time that the garage has been broken in to and chosen items stolen. This is yet another problem that Katrina has brought to our area, the criminal element. Mobile is very near to Pascagoula so not much travelling was involved and we arrived on time for our first adventure.


Dave put the girls in a tiny lift to get them and buggy up the stairs.

Anita took care of our entrance into the .....


A mummy from the British Museum in London was the attraction. It is said that Ancient Egyptians believed the process of mummification transformed the corpse into a new kind of body, one that would live forever among the gods. This particular mummy was determined to be NESPERENNUB who lived in approximately 800BC and served in the temple as a priest. Of course, no cameras were allowed.

We were given "3D glasses" and watched the process of mummification and how it became possible to determine who the mummy was without destroying the specimen. Cat scans were used to see inside the body and much info about the person can be obtained from the hieroglyphics (pictorial symbols used to represent meaning or sound) that are written on the coffins. In height, NESPERENNUB was guessed to be about 5' 4" as most egyptians at that time were short in stature and from the size of his coffin it could have been that of child. He was about 30-40 yrs. old when he died. Although this was interesting, I wondered why the movie, "The Creature From The Black Lagoon", kept entering my mind.

The Ancient Egyptians practiced what many of us would consider to be black magic. They used AMULETS that were often shaped in the form of a god or goddess to give them power over happenings in their daily lives. Mummies often had amulets placed in their coffins to give them power that would help them pass on to a new life. NESPERENNUB had seven

We saw artifacts that were said to be over 3000 yrs. old. To be truthful, I was skeptical through the entire thing but there was one thing I did like because I liked the fairy tale concept ot it. They were called SHABTIS... little figures carved from wood or stone holding a tool of work. Egyptians believed that you would have to work in the afterlife and the important people did not want to so they placed shabtis statuettes in coffins with hieroglyphics written on them explaining that, when the gods called on the person to do the work, the shabtis would come to life and do the work for them. Cute isn't it?

The excitement began for me when we went in to see the IMAX movie, "Mystery of the Nile". It was fantastic!!!! A virtual ride down the Nile. At times I was so dizzy that I remember saying to my daughter, " I think I am going to have a stroke". Somehow the big smile on my face didn't convince her. To Dave, Anita and myself, it definitely was the highlight of the entire trip. To the kids it was ........................

Time to go. Yvonne watches to see that her Dad gets down safely with Emily and the buggy.

We stopped for a BIG bite to eat and just finished before Yvonne "threw up".