One of Ray’s favorite hobbies (besides camping and fishing) is finding and collecting Shark Teeth. One of his greatest in his collection is a large Megladon tooth. So when my wife remembered she took a field trip in school to Aurora, North Carolina to visit the Aurora Fossil Museum, she knew that Ray needed to visit.

The museum is about an hour and 40 minutes from where we live, so we jumped in the truck on Friday morning and started on our way. When we arrived, the area was pretty desolate as Aurora is no booming metropolis. But as we got closer, one thing was certain – there were two giant digging pits and this Museum is a hit with locals and tourists alike.

When we arrived, we walked in to a small gift shop at the entrance/exit of the Museum. The Museum itself is small, and offers free admission, which is great after I just burned an hour and a half worth of gas in my truck. We started walking through and the very first thing my son see’s are Megalodon teeth, which happens to be his favorite shark. Ray knows just about everything you could care to ask about sharks. He even is able to closely identify the types of shark based on teeth, tail, and fins.

After checking out all of the teeth on display, we stepped into another room with dirt layers showing where fossils are likely found. It was neat, but not as neat as all the teeth we just saw. We left this room pretty quickly and entered another room that contained a bunch of shells and marine vertebrae. Ray took a picture inside a Shark’s mouth while we were in this room. In the very back was a small room with Native American arrowheads, spearheads, and artwork. I thought this was pretty neat and shows how resourceful the Native American’s were in history.

On our way out, Ray asked if he could get a “shifter” … also known as a sifter. They were only $12 for a large 12″ sifter which I thought was fair given the free admission, so we made a purchase and went outside to the pits.

To start with, Ray went to the pit right in front of the Museum. Within seconds he was running to me (I was sitting in a covered gazebo in the shade, doing some work) with a Great White Shark Tooth! After sending a picture to his mother, he went back to work in the pit. After a while, he asked if we could move to the other pit that was more shaded. We made our way around the corner and as there was nowhere I could sit and work, I put my iPad up and sat on the wall with him. Eventually, I was digging right along with him, helping load the “shifter” and “shifting” the debris.

We dug for a couple hours and Ray accumulated a heaping handful of shark teeth, before we agreed it was time to head home. The plan was to stop somewhere for some food, but as soon as his head hit the seat in my truck it was lights out for this 7 year old paleontologist. It was a great first trip to the Aurora Fossil Museum, and I know we will definitely visit again.

If you want to visit the Aurora Fossil Museum, the address is:

400 Main Street

Aurora, North Carolina

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