Visit the Mineral & Lapidary Museum of Hendersonville, NC:
Larry Hauser’s personal gem and mineral collection is part of the museum and includes rare specimens from around the world. He started the museum in hopes of attracting as many as 3,000 visitors a year and quickly surpassed that number. “Now about 30,000 visitors per year sign our guest book,” he reports. Admission is free, and in addition to stunning examples of gems and minerals, the museum has Indian artifacts, a dinosaur egg nest, and fossils.
And although the hobby of mineral collecting can be a sophisticated subject best understood by geologists, Hauser strives to make it fun. Children can pick and choose from boxes full of softball sized rocks that are guaranteed to contain a cluster of gem crystals inside. Adult volunteers help them break them open, using a gadget that resembles an industrial strength nut cracker. One of most delicate and rare amethysts on display is actually on loan from a child who visited the museum while on summer vacation. “She found it inside one of the geodes we sold, when we cracked it open,” Hauser recalls. ” I saw it and asked if she would loan it to the museum for public exhibit, because it is a remarkable specimen. And she was kind enough to loan it to us.”
Hendersonville is close to the mountain town of Asheville, NC, and is home to many other tourist attractions and events for the entire family.