The butterfly garden at the Florida Museum of Natural History

The gift shop at the Florida Museum of Natural History recently started carrying my resin scrabble tile pendants with the butterfly designs.  It's a very family friendly place here in Gainesville and I took some pictures when I was there delivering pendants last week.

When you first walk in, there's a large mammoth skeleton to greet visitors.

While the admission to the museum is free, the butterfly garden requires paid admission.  This is a full display of encased butterflies that grace the wall on the museum side of the exhibit.

The butterfly exhibit is a large enclosure.  Visitors actually get the chance to walk amongst the butterflies.  During the visits my kids and I have taken, we have had a few of the blue morpho butterflies land on us!  During the winter, warm air is pumped into the (normally) tropical exhibit.  In my opinion, the best time to go to see the butterflies at their most active is during the extreme heat and humidity of the summer.  It's like the butterflies are crazy!

There is an area on the outside of the exhibit where you can watch butterflies hatch from their cocoons.

For those who want to try to attract butterflies at home, there are almost always some "butterfly plants" for purchase.

In case you go and want to buy some of my resin scrabble tile pendants, they are in a basket by the cash register.  If you don't see them, I'm sure one of the friendly staff will be happy to help.