The museum has several antique fire truck with plaques telling you about the truck and how it worked. Throughout the building there are easy to read signs giving interesting tid-bits about the history of fire fighting and there are artifacts showcasing old equipment and new equipment. All fine and good for Mom and Dad, but what about those kids?
The best part of the museum is the kid friendly part. They have several antique, NO TOUCH, trucks but thankfully, the curators remembered what it is like to be a child and included a truck the kids could crawl on and in. Walk to the back of the museum and you will find a ladder and pole set-up that allows kids to climb up and slide down a fireman's pole onto a padded mat. They even took the cab of a more modern truck and affixed it to a wall so the kids could crawl in and pretend to drive. Cool part about the cab is it has switches that actually turn lights on, and thankfully the curators remembered what is like to be a child and did not include the siren. There are some other fun things like helmets and fireman jackets the kids can try on and a wall with cartoons and areas to color. There is a display that allows kids to feel the weight of the hoses and to tighten them off and on the display. I understood that it was a replica of part of a more modern truck, but I didn't understand what the hoses of different sizes were for. Fighting fires, I suppose.
Anyway, the kids loved it. I loved it. It was a very good stop.
Trip Stats:
- Who: one Mom, two 10 year olds boys and one five year old boy
- What: The Houston Firehouse Museum, http://houstonfiremuseum.org/index.html
- When: Thursday afternoon
- Where: downtown Houston
- Why: indoor play and education
- Cost: $3 per adult and $2 per child over 4 years old
- Parking: You can park on Milam Street for free as long as it is not rush hours. Read the signs carefully.
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