We went to Omaha on a “last hurrah before school starts” trip a few weeks ago. Omaha is the perfect place for it, because it’s only about three hours away, but is full of fun stuff to do and great places to eat and stay. And it’s far enough to feel like we’re taking a vacation.

I was given tickets to several places, and I was excited because we’d only ever been to one of them before (the zoo). The others were new to us and sounded like really fun places to take the kids. I was totally right about that.

I took a lot of pictures while we were there, so I’m going to split this into (at least) two posts and share my favorites.

We went to the Durham Museum first. I thought Ervin would like it, especially, because the website said they had model trains and real train cars. It turned out to be a really fun, interactive place.

When you walk in, you see statues in the train station portion that start to talk when you get close to them, like they were real passengers. This lady was buying her ticket while the man told her the prices. Others around the main lobby were waiting on the bench seats and getting ready to board the train with their families.

There was a line of train cars from different eras that were connected, and you could walk through them all before getting to the end. And, as I suspected, the model trains were enjoyed.

They had a special Lost Egypt exhibit, too, that was very cool. The kids were a little creeped out by the mummy (which was real and thousands of years old, encased in a temperature-controlled box), but I thought it were absolutely fascinating. I couldn’t take any pictures of the teenage girl mummy, but the rest of the exhibit hall included a camel to “ride” on (very popular) and things to try out, like pulling ropes to feel what it would be like to build the pyramids, and shifting wind to see how it affects the sand in the desert.

I thought the museum was going to be a little stuffy, and you know….museum-like, but it really turned out to be a great place to visit for all of us. There were things for the kids to do and touch and test around every corner, and the Soda Fountain was a great place to end it to pick out some candy (although, the treats and food looked really, really good, too).

Some more of my favorites from the Durham Museum:

If you’re in the Omaha area, definitely check out the Durham Museum with your family. And check out the website Omahaadventure.com and its app for coupons and special deals before you go.

I received complimentary tickets to the museum, but no compensation for this review. All opinions are my own.