After getting my license renewed, we headed over Cincinnati Museum Center…

The last time we were here the rotunda was still undergoing a massive renovation…

Museum Center was hosting the final stop of an exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service called Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission all about the Apollo 11 moon landing…

First, we found The Neil Armstrong Space Exploration Gallery, a new permanent exhibit that celebrates the legacy of the historic Apollo 11 mission…

The gallery is centered around a 360-degree immersive theater experience, transporting guests to the excitement and trepidation of the summer of 1969…

And then we found the Destination Moon exhibit, we had walked right by it…

On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission met President Kennedy’s 1961 challenge of “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the earth” before the end of the decade. Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission explores and honors that great achievement using genuine flown artifacts from the Apollo 11 mission on loan from the National Air and Space Museum. Featuring the Apollo command module Columbia — the only portion of the historic spacecraft to survive the lunar journey — the exhibition explores the birth and development of the American space program and the space race in time for the 50th anniversary of humankind’s greatest scientific achievement.

Destination Moon gives guest the rare opportunity to see artifacts that made the 953,000-mile journey possible, like Buzz Aldrin’s gold-plated extravehicular helmet visor and thermal-insulated gloves. The dizzying star chart that helped Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins navigate the historic journey and the rucksack and survival kit that accompanied the astronauts are also included.

The star of the exhibition was the Columbia command module, on display outside the National Air and Space Museum for the first time since 1976…

It’s the only part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft to return intact to Earth. It was the three-person crew’s living quarters for most of the mission, from Cape Kennedy to the Moon’s orbit, to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean…

I really love space stuff. And it was a truly amazing exhibit!

I also wanted to see Cincinnati Museum Center’s new Dinosaur Hall in the Museum of Natural History & Science…

And we explored the limestone cave…

We also wandered through the Public Landing in the Cincinnati History Museum…

Cincinnati Museum Center is such an incredible Cincinnati gem…

I’m so glad it was restored to all its former glory…

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my birthday! Apollo 11, dinosaurs, caves and the public landing all inside of historic Union Terminal. And the best part was… it was all older than me. And it made me feel so young at heart. What more could you ask for on your birthday? 😀🌕🦕❤️