This past December we took a family road trip down to Tucson and made a stop at the Titan II Missile Museum.. Let me say at first I said "Oh, OK, sure I guess we can stop there."
Holy crikey!! It was one of the best geek stops we ever made!
You start by watching a short film about the world back in the days of the Cold War and the history of the US missile defence system. After the film you walk out into the formerly high-security area of the missile site and into a very surreal world. After a brief speech from the guide you head three stories down into the silo itself. The first stop is the series of blast doors that protected the silo and personnel from potential intruders and possible nuclear attack. Next you head into the command centrer where you experience where two officers and two enlisted specialists spent 24-hour tense shifts training and maintaining the equipment all while waiting for an order to launch (that thankfully never came).
After touring the command area you walk down a long tunnel and through more blast doors into the actual silo which contains a decommissioned Titan II Missile as it would have looked during the Cold War. I won't tell you any more than that. You must go see this museum and learn the history. My kids -- daughter (age 10) and son (age 13) -- really, really enjoyed themselves and asked a bajillion questions. The tour allows you to learn about history and science and see something that only a very elite handful of military members ever saw. And once you've explored the silo and grounds be sure to swing through the gift shop and pick up a fun patch for your Girl Scout (or a t-shirt for yourself).
