A few weeks ago, a friend of Jason and Mittu’s called to say he had five free adult tickets to The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY, and asked if they wanted them. They asked if we were interested in going, and then arranged to go on the weekend Mittu’s mom would be visiting so she could experience it, too. I’m not sure why their friend had these tickets, but we’re grateful for his generosity.

Children under ten got in free. The man at the door looked at us skeptically when we said Timothy was only 9. 🙂 But he didn’t question us.

If you’re not familiar with the Ark Encounter, it’s a life-sized replica of Noah’s ark built according to the dimensions in the Bible..

The Ark is a little over three hours away from us, so we drove in two separate cars. Jason and his family planned to stay overnight, but Jim and I came back that evening.

We met for lunch at Hansie Flip Burgers in Wlliamstown, not far from the Ark, Jason had looked up places nearby that had gluten-free options for Mittu and Timothy. It was kind of neat to visit a local place rather than a restaurant we’re used to. It’s in an area which is renovating a lot of old buildings. There were not a lot of choices on the menu–mainly just large and small burgers–but they were good. And their Hansie sauce was wonderful.

When we got done there, we headed over to the Ark. Thankfully, they had a shuttle bus from the parking spot to the Welcome center. We were able to find a parking spot not far from the shuttle.

The most impressive part of the whole day for me was walking up to the Ark itself and seeing how massive it was. Their web site says the structure is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high.

This doesn’t give you the best idea of the scale, since we’re closer to the camera and look bigger. But if you look back to the Ark, you can see the tiny people on the ground and how they compare to the structure.

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about the ark itself besides the size and materials it was made of. We don’t know how Noah and his family managed the animals, food storage, waste products, etc. But those who built this Ark used their best guesses based on research of ancient history. They had a lot of signage indicating where they took artistic license.

The Ark has three levels filled with displays and information. They had life-sized displays of animals and cages, food storage, an indoor garden, Noah’s family and their imagined living quarters. Many of the animals looked unfamiliar but were based on fossil records.

Imagined living quarters of one of Noah’s sons and his wife.

The people looked quite realistic!

Some of the animals were not like any we’re familiar with. The builders used fossil records to simulate animals that would have been around at the time. We saw part of one video while we were resting that showed how they did some of the art work and animal replicas. That was pretty interesting.

There was also an abundance of information on the walls: the story of creation, man’s fall, and the descent into violence and lawlessness that led to the flood; how big is a cubit; the difference between kinds of animals and species, and why that’s important; the after-effects of the flood, and so much more. I think we would have gotten much more from the experience if we had read more of the signage. I wish I had taken more pictures of it to read later.

We were there for almost four hours, I think. There was more we could have explored, but we were tired.

There were a lot of other attractions outside, but they were closed for the season. Jason and Mittu did take Timothy to a zoo area after Jim and I left.

There were also snack and gift areas on every floor, as well as lots of benches and restrooms.

Timothy and his grandmothers taking a break. 🙂

We kind of joked about some of the modern-day amenities that would not have been on the original ark. But I was glad for air conditioning and elevators and other modern touches.

I have to confess, years ago, when we first heard the Ark was going to be built, we wondered if it was a wise use of money. It would be neat and interesting, yes. But would Christians’ donations be better invested in missions or education or evangelism?

But I think the Ark is both evangelistic and educational.

On the downside:

• The Ark’s fees are incredibly high: $50 for adults, $40 for seniors, $30 for kids ages 11-17. Children under 10 are free. They had other price combinations if you’re staying for more than a day or going to the nearby Creation Museum as well. And parking is $15 per car. I don’t think we would have ever gone if we hadn’t had free tickets.
• Jason and Mittu had been before and said the buffet there was a little expensive then, but manageable. This time, though, it was $20 per person (which is why we ate elsewhere).
• It did seem awfully commercialized. Maybe that’s just a part of an attraction like this. I was thinking that a Christian fiction novel has to be an excellent story, or it’s message will fall flat. So this kind of venue probably has to have all the usual things that come with being an attraction to be taken seriously.
• The shuttle brought us to the Welcome Center (which housed a large gift shop, coffee shop, etc.), and then we had to walk quite a ways to the Ark itself. I don’t know why they couldn’t have put the Welcome Center closer to the Ark, or taken the shuttle to the Ark rather than the Welcome Center, or provided another shuttle.
• They had a lot of staff around to direct or answer questions. They were helpful when we did ask them something. But a couple of them over-directed us needlessly (telling us to go where we were already going, etc.). The people wanting to take a group photo (to try to sell you later) were the most pushy.
• One video depicting a skeptical, derisive “reporter” asking Noah what he was up to did depict the attitude the people at the time had toward Noah. But it was done in a light, almost flippant way that, to Jim and me, took away from the message.

Overall, though, it was a good visit, and I am glad we went.

Timothy was a little droopy, and we thought he was just tired from picking up his other grandmother from the airport late the night before. His parents thought perhaps he was a little dehydrated and got some apple juice and water into him. That night, at the hotel, he developed a 102 degree temperature. We felt bad for him that he was coming down with something during the day. He had a low fever over the weekend and sniffles since then, but otherwise is ok now. I think he still enjoyed the visit.

Have you been to the Ark Encounter? What did you think?