Maine Mineral and Gem Museum

Dear Diary,

Maine has a new museum in Bethel.  It opened on December 12th and is dedicated to the mining industry in Maine most of which took place in the area I live, Oxford County.  I just had to go before the storm grounded me so off I went.  I was not disappointed, in fact, I was actually blown away by the breadth and depth of the exhibits.  I got to push the plunger in a virtual mine explosion, touch a rock from Mars and the Moon, and be dazzled by a room of gorgeous gem stones which focused on Maine's premier stone, the Tourmaline.  

Every room was eye-opening and stunning.  Years of planning and millions of dollars went into the making of this museum and to think it is in the little town of Bethel!  But Bethel is right in the middle of the area that was most prized for mining so it makes sense.  

You  should look at this collage in large so you can see the details better, like a fossil of a fish eating another fish, a jar of ash from the eruption of Mt. St. Helen and this amazing necklace made from Tourmalines.  I've secretly longed for a Watermelon Tourmaline but I was very happy just seeing them and the largest piece of the moon ever to hit the earth.  In fact, they have more meteorites than all other museums in the world combined!  That odd lime green rock is phosphorescent.  It was in a case with others and looked quite ordinary until you pushed a button and the light in the case went off!

 I am going on a bit but I was just so impressed with this museum.  I didn't see it all and I will be going back but right now I will just sit back and watch the snow fall.

Here is a link to how the museum came to be...