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Two weekends ago I decided to venture out and check out the Rock, Fossil & Dinosaur Shop in Deerfield, Mass. It’s about a 1 hour and 20 minute drive, but it was well worth the trip! The first thing that I loved was that I knew that already, two hours and 40 minutes of that day were already going to be used up in the car. I brought snacks, activity books, magazines, crayons, and paper to keep them occupied.
Just a quick background on the shop: The shop is owned by a former 1st grade teacher who understands kids. She is very friendly and keeps the prices pretty low. Click here to check out the shop and view the prices.
When we arrived, the owner greeted us with a friendly smile. We first decided to go in the mine shaft. It’s $9 per kid, and parents can go in there for free. It’s super cool! You go into a dark room with a headlamp and flashlights. The room is made to look like an old mine. The kids get a little bucket and collect all the gems, old fossils, shells, and dinosaur bones they can find. You can spend as much time as you want in there. My boys also did the gem mining for $8 a bag, and they receive about half a bag worth of gems “from all over the world.”
The shop is pretty small and we spent about an hour there. The gift shop is pretty cool, but with all the gems you collect, there’s really no need to spend money at the gift shop. Along that same street there is also Magic Wings (the butterfly conservatory) and Yankee Candle Outlet if you wanted to do some other things on that street. I decided to head up to Shelbourne Falls, Mass. and checkout the Trolley Museum, Bridge of Flowers, and the famous Potholes. Check out my blogs on these places coming soon!
Overall cost for 2 kids: Mine shaft $18; Gem Digging $16
Total Cost (tax included): $36.38
Kid Friendliness: 9 out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10
Until Next Time… Melissa
Editor’s note: The views expressed in the Parents’ Blog are Mandy and Melissa’s and are not associated with the news and editorial content on NRI NOW. Learn more about the Parents’ Blog here:Â Welcome to the Parent’s Blog
