Located at 3801 Broadway, by Brackenridge Park, the Witte Museum houses a fascinating variety of displays (many interactive) in history, science, the humanities and the arts.

You enter the dinosaur exhibit under a full-scale pterodactyl and are greeted by a skeletal triceratops. Stroll over to the Texas Wildlife section on the right, and your ears are gently assailed by the sounds of native animals, birds and insects through a Texas day. Sit down and enjoy.

Explore the history and importance of the American Indian Powwow through music, dances, clothing and symbols, then take a ride on the Explorer I for a taste of space travel (not recommended for claustrophobics or persons prone to motion sickness). The motion simulator experience costs $2 a "trip" and is the only activity not included in the admission price, so consider purchasing an all-day, $5 wristband for unlimited "flights."

Upstairs, view a pre-electric bedroom and experience life by kerosene lamps. Enjoy a cinematic trip even further into the past, to an age when prehistoric Texas Indians painted petroglyphs on canyon walls. Explore another ancient civilization in "Mummies: Unwrapping the Past," which focuses on Egypt. And, yes, there is a mummy.

Nearby are other assorted art and history exhibits, including a display of "Clothes of the Century," reviewing 100 years of U.S. fashion, from an "automobile duster" and goggles for turn-of-the-previous-century "cruising" to a pair of 1960s psychedelic carpet material boots Nancy Sinatra would have been proud to wear to "walk all over you."

No trip to the Witte with children would be complete without a visit to the four-story, HEB Science Tree House, with more hands-on activities to delight the younger set than you can shake a laser beam at. Actually, you can play with laser beams to make your own kind of music.

Live historical dramas are enacted on designated days and several historic San Antonio homes, relocated to the Witte grounds, can also be seen.

The museum is open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $5.95 for adults (ages 12-64), $3.95 for children 4 to 11 years, $4.95 for seniors 65-plus and free for children 3 and under. For a real bargain, visit any Tuesday from 3 p.m. on, when admission is free for everyone. For additional information on the Witte, call (210) 357-1900.