Probably don’t think of museums when planning a trip to Las Vegas, at least not beyond the Mob Museum. There are quite a few more there than people think.

I used to travel to Las Vegas with my family from when I was young up until about 18 years old. It’s when my grandma on my dad’s side of the family lived. We’d always go out there for 3 days after Christmas to visit with her. While there, it felt like a routine of going to mall and stopping at a couple of food factory places, though the only tour I found on this last visit was Ethel M Chocolates. We didn’t exactly venture down to Las Vegas Blvd (aka The Strip) unless we were headed to M&M World and the Coca-Cola Store. My siblings and I were all under age, so we couldn’t exactly go everywhere in the city.

That changed after I turned 21. I’m not a big drinker and I don’t really gamble either, so what else is there to do? Museums. A different approach to what a weekend usually looks like. 

The two museum exhibits that my hubby and I went to ended up being inside of the Luxor. The first one we went to was the King Tutankhamun exhibit. This isn’t the first time I’d seen an exhibit of these items. I’ve loved learning about ancient Egypt since I was a kid and have been to multiple exhibits of Egypt and mummies. However, it was my first time in this one. 

The King Tut exhibit starts by guiding you through the discovery of the tomb and how it was actually found. As Howard Carter was about to give up after multiple digs throughout the Valley of the Kings, a young water boy spotted a stone step beneath the dirt. Digging there, they uncovered a staircase that led down to the door of the tomb. It shares the details about how the seal on the outside was still untouched and even gave some information on the curse everyone believed came from opening the tomb.

From there, you are guided through the exhibit and get to see real and replicated items from the tomb. Including an exploded view of the multiple sarcophagi that he was buried in. There’s even a replica room of what the burial chamber looked like with hieroglyphs and all. Following through, it also shares information about each item and some explain in further detail the relevance of why the item was placed in the tomb. It all ends with a look at a replica of the golden death mask and, of course, the gift shop. 

After making our way out of the gift shop, we were about to head out, when I convinced my hubby to go through the Titanic Exhibit. I had been through it once before on a different trip and was with different people as well. No one else was interested, so the first time I was wandering through by myself. It was better to have company. 

Since I was about 11, I’ve been obsessed with learning about the Titanic. Pretty sure it was the movie and it has also contributed to my fear of cruise ships on the open ocean. I remember getting several books about the ship. Then, as more documentaries were made, I watched nearly all of them. Especially the ones that were released during the 100th anniversary of the sinking. Not sure how the obsession started, but it’s a subject I can have hours long conversations about with all the facts I’ve retained. The first time I ever saw the Titanic exhibit was when we passed through Chicago on a family road trip and I was happy to have my hubby with me so I could share my knowledge with him.

At the start of the exhibit, the ticket you are given is the profile of one of the passengers and at the end, you see if they survived or perished in the disaster. In the first room, you make your way through a dock that looks like the outside of the ship and go up into third class accommodations. It shows how the rooms looked and even had some valuables that were recovered from the ocean floor. 

From there, you move on to second class accommodations and more cases filled with items from the passengers. It shows what rooms looked like and had informational plaques sharing what meals were given and other amenities that the ship offered. After you walk out, there is a replica of the grand staircase and it looks like it came straight off the movie set from James Cameron. They offer to take your picture here and you can buy it, but you’re not allowed to take your own. Of course after this is the first class accommodations and more items that were recovered. One thing I neglected to mention earlier, they do show what the china patterns looked like for each class on the ship. It pretty much goes from plain to a slightly fancier pattern. 

After a tour of the first class rooms, the exhibit transitions you to the night of the sinking. It’s really amazing what they’ve done with the atmosphere and lighting. It goes from light and cheery to a nighttime and slightly heavy feeling in the air. Entering onto the bridge, it gives details about the iceberg warnings given by telegraph. You are then guided out onto a short portion of the outside deck to see a night sky with twinkling stars and when you reenter, it drops you straight into when the iceberg struck. 

The room shows one of the mechanisms used to communicate with the engine room and explains the measures they took to try and avoid the iceberg. As you walk further into the room, they have a chunk of ice that you can touch and gives you an idea of how solid the iceberg was which explains the damage it did. The tone of the exhibit remains more somber the rest of the way. The air feels heavier as you view more items that were found and displayed under spotlights in a darkened room. 

All this sets the scene for the model that is displayed showing how the ship was found on the ocean floor and the subsequent story of how the ship was found. Robert Ballard was originally recruited for another project as they were looking for the debris of a specific submarine. It was promised that if there was extra time, he’d use that to find the Titanic. Ballard learned a lot while looking for submarine wreckage and used it when they went out into the Atlantic Ocean to look for the ship. They didn’t focus on looking for parts of the ship, instead they were looking for the debris field as it covered a larger amount of space on the ocean floor. This paid off, as on September 1, 1985 Ballard and crew located the debris field that led them to the stern of the ship. This part was more in tatters by the time it had landed when compared to the bow of the ship which was more intact, save for a bit of collapsed internal structure caused when it landed. 

While this may appear that this is the end of the exhibit, it is not. This room showing the model of how the ship was found on the ocean floor, leads to a narrow hallway with more artifacts that were recovered. Exiting the hallway leads you to what they nicknamed “The Big Piece”. A large section of the hull was recovered back in 1998. It is 26 feet 6 inches by 12 feet 6 inches and the approximate weight is 15 tons. Walking into the room leaves you in awe at the size of this piece and brings you back to reality that this was a real tragedy where so many had lost their lives. We were visiting in April 3 days after the anniversary of the sinking and the museum had candles set out in remembrance of those who perished. 

There is an option to sit and watch the little movie playing about how the piece was recovered, but if you skip that then this is where the exhibit leads into the final room with the wall of names. Using your ticket, you will be able to see if the passenger profile you have survived the sinking. They have little computers with scanners at the end that give more details about the person. 

Finally, there is the gift shop of course. Here there are quite a few things to get. Including china with the different prints, blankets, books, and other little knick-knacks that are Titanic themed.

While there may be more museums that I’m hoping to visit next time I go, these are currently my two favorites that I enjoyed. They are also not the only ones I really like and have visited. So stay tuned for more! Until then, safe exploring everyone!