Catch a show at the Mugar Omni Theater

Remember visiting the Museum of Science as a kid during a field trip? The highlight (besides eating space ice cream) was always catching a show at the larger than life Mugar Omni Theater. Luckily, the specialness of that childhood experience still holds up.

After the customary vertigo subsides (which for me usually lasts until about 10 minutes into any given show), a magical thing happens: transportation into another world, another landscape, or another moment in time. The dome-shaped IMAX screen, reaching nearly five stories high, envelopes the audience in images that stretch beyond our peripheral vision. In simpler terms: it feels like you're there! Sure, this isn't breaking news to anyone who has lived close to this city within the last 20 years, but it's fun all the same.

I caught a showing recently of "Alaska: Spirit of the Wild," which documents the animals, people, and sweeping landscape of our nation's most northern state. (Watch the trailer here.) It's the land of breaching humpback whales and dogsled racing. Glaciers and the northern lights. The best parts of the film though are those featuring the state's bear population. The industrious brown bears dig for clams in the sand along the coastline, joined by a single red fox hoping to get in on the action. Later, the bears are at it again, fishing for salmon in the streams only to pass out (snoring) when they've sufficiently gorged themselves. In another scene, the presence of a black bear seems ominous as animals further down on the food chain flee the area. Fearsome predator he may be, how delightful it is to see him splash around in the water, playfully jumping about having a good time.

"Alaska: Spirit of the Wild" plays at the Museum of Science through Feb. 9. $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $8 for children. Visit www.mos.org for showtimes and complete visitor information.