Toast Pop Travels: The National Corvette Museum

I’m not a huge car person, but thankfully the men in my life are! Growing up, my dad worked for a couple automotive production plants and also owned a 1974 C4. My husband is a commercial truck driver but he knows his way around civilian vehicles quite well himself, having tinkered with mine since we’ve known each other.

My husband’s work has taken him through Bowling Green, Kentucky countless times but two years ago, we were finally passing through for pleasure after Thanksgiving and had time to stop at the National Corvette Museum–someplace he’s been wanting to go, and one I genuinely enjoyed myself given to some extent by my dad’s associations with the classic vehicle.

The museum is on the aptly named Corvette Drive and can be seen from Interstate 65. It’s also a quarter mile from the Bowling Green Assembly Plant, where Corvettes have been produced since 1981. Plant tours are a possibility, though separate from the museum admission and experience, of course. The 115,000-square foot facility showcases over eighty models throughout its seventy-year production, along with other displays of the company’s history and memorabilia. They’ve even dedicated an exhibit to the collapse of its Skydome floor in 2014–a sinkhole developed under the floor of that section in the building, and swallowed eight rare and one-of-a-kind Corvettes among other debris. The area with extra precautions, and displays have been integrated to illustrate the sinkhole location, a simulation of the disaster, some of the geography behind it, and the recovered or damaged vehicles after the fact.

A current, limited-engagement feature is a gallery for the Legendary Creations of Carl Casper, the man behind “The Batman Returns” Batmobile, Turbo Shark Corvette/ Cosmic Invader, Young American Dragster/ 51 Merc “Knight Cruiser” and more exotic custom creations. Also, an education gallery opening April 28th will offer hands-on STREAM activities for younger visitors to enjoy.

Amid cruising the showcases, hungry visitors can dine at the museum’s Stingray Grill that serves diner-style burgers, salads, desserts, and drinks. The museum’s Corvette Store offers Corvette accessories and car care products in addition to typical souvenirs. Right in the lobby is a Corvette driving simulator in which participants drive a C6 on a virtual racetrack. The real driving experience is offered seasonally at the NCM Motorsports Park across the highway.

Even if you’re not a car geek, time here at the National Corvette Museum can be time well-spent with any vehicle enthusiasts in your life! This attraction gets “ToastPop Approval”!