Dining with the Fishes
Aside from the two on-site restaurants, the River’s Edge Café and the Mississippi Grounds Café, the museum and aquarium offer a full-service catering option for events and meetings. Through the catering program, planners can choose among a selection of menus; options include cocktail hours, hors d’oeuvres, and plated and buffet dinners that come with a number of delectable sides and desserts made fresh. The seafood is an obvious favorite among guests, but the team loves to show off its meatier skills with the carving stations. The catering team also provides a full beverage service with alcohol available and package upgrades that include premium bottles and selections.
Entertainment
Before and after the event, guests have the opportunity to journey through the museum and aquarium at their own pace, or they can join a guided tour to get exclusive access to the exhibits and personal interaction with the live critters that call this space home. Visitors love the interactive displays, and some of the favorites are walking on a logging barge of trees, “hearing what bats hear” inside a cave, building a boat and sailing it in the children’s interactive center, becoming a barge pilot and touring the National Landmark dredge boat William M. Black.
Extras
Although the museum stands alone as a daytime attraction during business hours and during meetings and events, the space comes to life in a whole new way overnight. Among many other unique programs, one of the most popular to book is the overnight experience, where the event staff holds a hosted sleepover for small groups looking to dive into the museum in a new way. Games, crafts, and animal encounters are all part of the slumber-party agenda before guests grab a flashlight and head to the Journey Theater and tuck themselves in their sleeping bags to spend the night in one of the exhibits.
National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium
Location: Dubuque, Iowa
Type of Venue: Off-site, museum and aquarium
Capacity: 500
Nearby Accommodations: Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark
Contact Info:
536-557-9545
www.rivermuseum.com
