dirtylibrarian

The Klondike National Historic Park intrigued me because I was surprised to hear that there was a National Park in downtown Seattle.  As a rule, I really like National Parks and I like learning more about the place I live, so it seems like a win-win, right?  Plus, my mom was game and we were in the neighborhood.

Essentially, this is a decent little museum and perfectly nice in just about every way, as you would expect from the National Parks folks.  Things it had going for it:

• 2 different films about the Klondike Gold Rush, so you could kick back and relax and learn, and take a rest from museum walking.
• Silly interactive things that kids usually enjoy...the best being a spinning Wheel of Fortune type thing to show what the odds were for anyone actually making it rich.
• Great photographs.
• A cool computerize thing where you could follow the lives of 6 people who went to Alaska out of Seattle, and see what happened to them...which made it touchingly personal.
• Goofy little gift shop with some neat vintage looking postcards and other silly stuff.
• Located in building that was a hotel prospectors passed through.
• It was free!

I would have enjoyed it more if I knew less about the Klondike Gold Rush, but apparently Will Hobbs did fine research when he wrote Jason's Gold, because that teen book and its sequel told me pretty much everything this museum did.  That said, if you don't know much about this very interesting part of Seattle's history...and how it pretty much saved the city from the depression of the 1890s, you should totally check it out sometime!

This afternoon I made it to the Burke Museum with my friend qtilla. It was a nice little museum, with every thing seeming to be of high quality and nicely put together, but not very large. My favorite thing of the day was this contemporary Native drum design:



I love how it incorporates that layered silhouette thing that you see all over the place now days (but I haven't gotten tired of yet), and that the wolf is frisky and appealing. The whole balance and colors of it really delights me.

Overall, I recommend this museum for families who don't want to be exhausted, but want to share good quality stuff with their kiddos.