Today I got to touch a 5,000 year old moon rock, take a selfie with a Giraffe and then do yoga in a gallery filled with priceless art. So, how was your day?

The Imperial Center in downtown Rocky Mount is one part Science Center, one part Art Gallery and 100 percent worth the visit. Located in a 135,000 sq. ft. converted tobacco mill from the early 1900s, it offers guests like you and me a chance to do things we've never done, question what we think we know and create things we didn't know we could.

Sitting at the entrance to downtown with its giant, dormant smokestack and outdoor sculptures, the Imperial Center immediately conjures images of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. But instead of Oompa Loompas there are tons of kids and parents armed with ideas and a sense of fun.

Guests enter the building through a massive converted boiler room that now houses the Welcome Center. High brick walls, massive steel doors and the sounds of play fill the room and build anticipation of the experience to come beyond the ticket booth. Science center to the right. Arts Center to the left. Imagination switch flipped to on.

SCIENCE CENTER

When you look around the Science Center it's filled with interactive experiences. Exhibits are designed to make you think and have fun.

In one corner, kids are learning about space. They're dressing up like astronauts and taking photos in a rocket. They're figuring out how much they weigh on different planets. (Side note, do not order dessert and plan a trip to Jupiter where you will weigh double. In another corner, there are crowds gathered around a 2,800 gallon saltwater aquarium carefully examining live hermit crabs, spider crabs and sea urchins.

Across the room you can see minds racing. There's a 3-year old girl sneaking up on a life-sized stuffed rhino. A teenage boy is having a stare down with a red-eyed tree frog. A group of kids are riding a hovercraft to learn about air flow.

Everywhere you look there's laughter. There's learning. There's a curiosity that will lead to new ideas and stay with each ticket holder beyond their visit. That alone has got to be worth the price of admission.

ARTS CENTER

Take a left from the Lobby and you will find yourself in the Arts Center. Here you're welcomed by a deer sculpture made of steel pitchforks and cogged gears. Think Bambi meets Terminator. Not exactly the way you would think of a deer. But that's kind of the point of the gallery. From the moment you enter, it starts to make you look at things differently.

Go upstairs and you'll discover an exhibit of woven baskets by artist Anne Willson. Although her baskets are woven to appear random, much planning and foresight goes into the construction and stability of each form. Some appear as cocoons or nests. With shadows and lighting, some appear to levitate or take flight. The interpretation, as well as inspiration, is left to the viewer.

Wander through the bottom floor and you'll find an exhibit about Martin Luther King, Jr. It's a little known fact, Dr. King visited Rocky Mount and delivered a version of his "I have a Dream" speech almost a year before he made it to the National Mall in Washington D.C. The exhibit at the Imperial Center recounts his visit to the area in November of 1962 and the civil rights movement that continued to grow from the seeds planted right here.

Now that you're inspired, you also get a chance to create your own masterpiece. The center offers classes in pottery, drawing, sculpture and printmaking for the next Picasso in waiting. For those who consider their body a work of art, yoga classes are offered weekly right in the gallery.

Who should go to the Imperial Center? There is no age requirement. If you still seek out wonder. If you're still curious about how the world works. If you want to know which planet to visit in order to drop a 100 pounds instantly. The answer is right here. Curious minds are always welcome.