Courtesy Visit Evansville
There is nothing stodgy about cMoe, where, according to Adler, just about anything a planner can dream up is a go. Exhibits can be moved to allow more space for tables and chairs, or programs can be designed that turn exhibits like “Work Smart” into team-building material.
Among the events the museum has designed for adults is Way Late Play Date, which brings grown-ups in to “play” in the museum after hours.
“It encourages the kid in you,” said Adler. “You can have fun and get your work done.”
In the Live Big Room, the museum’s sense of humor is apparent. An exhibit to illustrate a pulse rate was designed, according to a placard, by “Angie O’Grahame.” In the restroom, the humor — and the education — continues with “Feces Facts.”
Orchids in Amazonia
As winter approaches, two Evansville attractions afford warmth and color for special events. At the Reitz Home Museum, a carriage house next to the French Second Empire mansion can become a dining space for up to 48. Parties can grow larger when a patio between the home and carriage house is tented.
Groups that dine in the former stable would be remiss to turn down a tour of the Reitz home, completed in 1871. It was the home of John Augustus Reitz, a lumber baron; his wife; and eight of his 10 children.
The home was magnificent then, but it became even more so when several of the children “redecorated” it after their parents’ deaths.
The Reitz children seemed to spare little expense. They had ceilings covered with canvas and hired muralists to paint scenes upon them, scenes that have been painstakingly restored in recent years. Ornate chandeliers were installed; fancy wallpapers were hung; stained-glass accents were commissioned. Exotic Moorish architectural touches were added. A tour guide explained: “It was much the decor of the time, very popular, as is shabby chic today.”
A few miles from town, at the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden, Amazonia offers a retreat to the tropics in a glass conservatory. The re-created rain forest is particularly popular for wintertime receptions. “It is 72 degrees year round, so it feels good in here in the winter and summer,” said Charlotte Roesner, marketing director.
With its twisting pathways, its verdant plants and trees, its flitting birds and its entertaining monkeys, Amazonia is “made for mingling,” Roesner said.
The zoo, the Reitz home and other Evansville attractions have been “underutilized,” said Warren. That won’t be the case as the city gets back into the convention business.
“We have a great zoo, great museums, so much history,” said Warren. “We haven’t done a lot to market it, but that has changed.”
www.visitevansville.com
