Weekend options: Vesuvius didn't wait, neither should you

The last day of Pompeii is near, but you won't have to beat the lava flows, just the moving trucks. The Science Museum of Minnesota's "A Day in Pompeii" exhibit ends Jan. 6. The Italian resort town was buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 A.D., which turned the entire area into a time capsule. Hundreds of astonishingly well-preserved household items, food samples, jewelry, gold coins and statuary are on display. There are also very eerie and emotionally moving casts of eight victims in their death throes, created when plaster was injected into cavities left by their bodies in the solidified volcanic ash. 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. today-Sat. and Mon.-Thu.; 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun. $15-$20. 120 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. 651-221-9444. www.smm.org.

Get a sense of life in Victorian-era St. Paul with a holiday horse-drawn carriage ride through historic Irvine Park. The neighborhood became a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and contains St. Paul's largest concentration of pre-Civil War houses. Along with larger opulent houses are the more modest frame and brick houses of the early working-class, immigrant settlers of the city. 1-5 p.m. Sat. $10 per person for a 15-minute ride. Reservations are recommended. Rides start in front of the Alexander Ramsey House, 265 S. Exchange St., St. Paul. 651-296-8760. www.mnhs.org.

A taste of the holiday season in the 19th century awaits you with Folkways of the Holidays at Historic Murphy's Landing. Individual historic buildings and homes are decorated in the holiday traditions of the cultures and religions that influenced Minnesota history, from Norwegian and French Canadian to German Catholic, Irish, Jewish and Czech-Slovak. A variety of period performances and entertainments are offered. Today enjoy a candlelight tour of the town with carolers, 5-8 p.m. A Christmas Pageant will be performed in the village church at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Sat., and the DeCantus Carolers will perform in the Town Hall 1:30-3:30 p.m. on Sun. Historic Murphy's Landing is open for touring 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun through Dec. 30. $7-$8.50. 2187 E. Hwy. 101, Shakopee. www.threeriversparkdistrict.org.

BRIAN LEEHAN