The visit to Pine-Strawberry Museum in Arizona was particularly memorable. Not only did the area have a small-town charm, I also got to interface with employees and give back
I briefly wrote about it in the “Share a museum photo” Challenge here. Below is the full version of my story along with some updates.
==========
“Want to hear a story?” a voice called out as I entered the 143 year-old museum. Was this Jigsaw’s “want to play a game?” in real-life? My eyes adjusted from the sun and I relaxed as I saw the smiling, friendly owner sitting behind a table.
I nodded. “Sure.” So he recounted the history of the building and of the city.
5 minutes ticked by. The history lesson continued until two visitors came in and barreled past like twin tornadoes. “We only have a few minutes and then have to leave!” they shouted.
The owner’s train of thought disrupted, he instead changed to a lighter topic- asking where I drove from. We connected on it because he used to live there. I got to share too that I came up here to explore new spots for Google Maps.
With the twin tornados already heading to the exit, I found myself wandering the museum alone for an hour. It was then a group of employees shuffled out from the office. I overheard snippets of their conversation about lack of visitors and how the museum is not well-known. One thing I noticed is that Google Maps lacked visual imagery of the interior. Since the museum looks small from the outside, maybe a lot of visitors were turned off by that and never gave it a chance. As such, I took and added photos of the exhibits.
The following photo below best encapsulates the museum’s layout. The carpeting and flat open flooring shows that the rooms are accessibility-friendly. On top of that, it shows the features of historic artifacts, glass displays, and labels that aid with understanding. I wrote a detailed review too.
To build up the quaint ambience of the spot, I uploaded clips of the various exhibits to Maps. Since visitors research on Google and Youtube when deciding to visit a recreational spot, I covered both bases by uploading longer landscape videos to Youtube.
While these actions are small, I believe they can still add up. Even if this just gets one visitor interested, that visitor can then spread the word to others. Being able to give back while exploring are the sprinkles on an ice-cream for me.
ধন্যবাদ সুন্দর একটি যাদুঘরের সাথে পরিচয় করিয়ে দেয়ার জন্য 
