Your ticket to Columbus

By Cheryl RodewigMay 27, 2010

FORT BENNING, Ga. -A,A Just released this month, the River City Pass represents some of the best venues Columbus has to offer - all contained in a $20 wallet-sized card. One pass is good for admission to the National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus, the Coca-Cola Space Science Center and the Rifle Range and IMAX theater at the National Infantry Museum.

The pass also features discounts at several places in uptown Columbus, including dining, shopping and entertainment. Here's a peek at what your pass includes.

Port Columbus

Aca,!Ac 19th-century vessels

The first thing you'll see as you approach Port Columbus is a full-scale replica of the USS Water Witch sitting outside the museum.

Inside, there are many more ships or pieces of ships, as the case may be. The ironclad CSS Jackson, burned and buried in the Chattahoochee River for nearly 100 years, was resurrected in 1961 for the Civil War centennial. The wreck, weighing more than 500,000 pounds, still retains the scent of burned wood. Port Columbus also boasts the largest surviving Confederate warship, the CSS Chattahoochee, and the only surviving Confederate Navy gunboat, the CSS Chattahoochee.

Aca,!Ac Civil War era artifacts

Visitors can board a ship, peek inside a ward room, watch naval combat episodes, see the largest Civil War naval flag collection in the country and examine other period artifacts, such as carbines, rifles, cutlasses and uniforms.

Find out more on the redesigned website: www.portcolumbus.org.

Coca-Cola Space Science Center

Aca,!Ac The lobby

With simulation rides and hands-on exhibits, visitors to the Coca-Cola Space Science Center can test drive a fighter plane, help forecast the weather, maneuver a Mars rover and land a shuttle. Perfect for children, this area has plenty of informational displays to back up the fun with real science.

Aca,!Ac Mead Observatory

The Mead Observatory houses several telescopes, including a 16-inch LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain. The observatory offers programs throughout the year covering a range of astronomical events, including comets and eclipses to meteor showers.

Aca,!Ac Omnisphere Theater

The planetarium features a high-resolution video projection system and excellent sound quality. One of only a handful of its kind, the theater immerses you in an out-of-this-world experience as you recline in your seat facing a full-dome screen.

Several shows play throughout the week, including laser concerts. The newest feature is Invaders of Mars.

For more information, visit www.ccssc.org.

National Infantry Museum

Aca,!Ac IMAX

Boasting a screen five stories high and 70 feet wide and a 70-speaker, 12,000-watt sound system, the IMAX theater at the National Infantry Museum is the only IMAX theater in West Georgia. In any of its 292 seats, you're sure to get a good view.

Now showing are three feature documentaries: Hubble 3-D, Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets and Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West.

Aca,!Ac Rifle Range

Experience the same rifle simulator used on post to train Soldiers. The Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 lets you compete against your friends while testing your prowess at marksmanship.

And the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center is the only place in the civilian world where you can find this simulator.

For more information about IMAX show times, the Rifle Range and other exhibits on display at the museum, visit www.nationalinfantrymuseum.com.

For more on the city pass, visit www.rivercity.pass.com.