Two by Two: The Ark Encounter

 

I couldn't help but think of the children's Bible song about Noah's Ark as we approached the Ark Encounter. 

It's kind of a silly song, but catchy nonsense songs appeal to kids. And they get stuck on repeat in adults' brains if given a chance, too. It says, in part:

The Lord said to Noah
there's gonna be a floody floody
Lord said to Noah
there's gonna be a floody floody
Get my children (clap)
out of the muddy muddy
Children of the Lord.

The animals, they came on
they came on by twosies twosies
Animals, they came on
they came on by twosies twosies
Elephants and (clap)
kangaroozies roozies
Children of the Lord.

Chorus:
So rise and shine
and give God the glory glory
Rise and shine
and give God the glory glory
Rise and shine and (clap)
give God the glory glory
Children of the Lord.

The Ark Encounter is located in Grant County, Kentucky, near Williamstown, halfway between Cincinnati and Lexington off I-75.

It wasn't originally on our travel itinerary. But two Master Farmer couples suggested it after they heard that our next trip was to the Bluegrass State. So we added it.

It is BIG. The full-size Noah’s Ark is built according to the dimensions given in the Bible. It is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high.

Taking a photo from the end helps give perspective in just how big it is. Can you see the itty-bitty human near the fence in the photo below? That gives some indication as to the mammoth size.

The Ark Encounter used a "royal cubit" since major construction projects in the ancient world were often based on them. The Ark's volume is approximately 1.88 million cubic feet, large enough to contain nearly 450 semi-truck trailers. It includes 3.3 million board feet of lumber and is the largest timber-frame structure in the world. Several different woods were used, including Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, radiata pine and bamboo.

The Ark's door also gives some perspective as to its size. There are three "decks" of exhibits.

This shows some of the central structure.

The Ark Encounter creators admit that the Bible doesn't provide a lot of details about how the ark was constructed or how the inside of the Ark would have been configured to house and care for animals. 

They say:

Our Ark is based on the Biblical data and shipbuilding research, but we used artistic license in many areas, including the design of the ship's interior and exterior structure, as well as the mechanisms for animal feeding and waste removal.

We didn't tour the attraction's zoo or some of its other features. (We were tired of walking and we were going on down the road to our next destination.) It is definitely not inexpensive. You pay $15 for parking and even with a senior citizen discount, admission was pricey. Still, we were glad we'd added it to our travel itinerary. 

Bravo to you if you've stayed with me through all these blog posts. I'll wrap up our trip in the next blog post.