We finally saw the Pompeii: Life and Death in the Shadow of Vesuvius exhibit at the Discovery Time Square Exposition Center. It was a very interesting exhibit, broken into a before and after arrangement. In between the two sections, there is a video presentation showing a recreation of the erruption of the volcano. The sound system lets you feel the rumble.
The frescoes are incredible. As a potter, I really enjoyed the terracotta vessels (and annoyed my family by sketching them...) The body casts are chilling, especially the toddler and the small children. They got to me in a visceral, mama bear way. There's a lot of information on daily life, including food and cooking, house layout, trade, jewelry, etc. Very worth a visit, though I'm not sure I would take a kid much younger than 7, because it's a fairly traditional museum exhibit-- not a lot of hands on, specifically kid oriented material, but if your kids have studied Pompeii, definitely see it before it closes on September 5th!
The published exhibition catalog really isn't a catalog-- it's very short and light on content, and made me wish photography had been permitted...
