If scientists can clone George Washington from DNA found on his original aviator sunglasses, then perhaps our greatest president can return to run for alderman and star in the next John Cusack comedy. Prepare for this real-life history quiz with today’s deal: for $6, you get one adult admission to Tampa Bay History Center (a $12 value) in the Channelside District.

Lauded by Creative Loafing for its "multi-sensory approach to historical storytelling," the Tampa Bay History Center uses its 60,000-square-foot space to display immersive exhibits on 12,000 years of Tampa history. Historically-curious visitors can browse the center's interactive exhibits, including the story theater, which tells the dramatic story of Chief Coacoochee during the Second Seminole War. Browse through artifacts from Florida’s cigar trade, including a replica of a 1920s cigar store, an ideal exhibit to take any uncles that believe they've switched bodies with Groucho Marx. A new temporary exhibit, Blue and Gray in Tampa Bay: The Civil War on Florida's Gulf Coast opens January 10, 2011, joining exhibits on cattle ranching, European exploration, and the civil rights movement.

The History Center is an environmentally friendly building sitting on a 2.4-acre site in the Channelside District, with its sparkling steel-and-glass atrium facing the waterfront. Since browsing historical artifacts can work up an appetite, museum browsers are advised to hold off on eating the car seat of the 1908 REO automobile and instead snack on a dish from the in-house Columbia Café, featuring a menu of Gulf Coast delicacies, including tapas, Cuban sandwiches, or flan. Visitors can also peruse the museum store for prints, books, or replica Seminole artifacts to remind you of your visit.

Reviews

SouthernTravelNews and Creative Loafing featured the Tampa Bay History Center.

• The amazing size and scope of this 60,000-square-foot History Center with 12,000 years of story fodder was a pleasant surprise! – Susan J. Young, SouthernTravelNews
• Prepare yourself to encounter an institution that is emphatically not your grandpa’s history museum. Sure, the place has got artifacts — cool ones, even, like a circa-1908 REO roadster. But along with objects in glass cases, visitors will be immersed in multimedia edutainment experiences. – Megan Voeller, Creative Loafing