For more than 90 years, this Smithsonian affiliate has been San Antonio’s top family-friendly museum, with a focus on the story of Texas as well as on nature and science. After the DoSeum kids’ museum opened down the road, some lamented that the Witte might be relegated to the back burner. Not to worry: In spring 2017, after two years of extensive renovation, the museum reopened with refurbished exhibits and some 170,000 square feet of new space to explore. Among the New Witte’s innovations: The Zachry Family Acequia Garden, showcasing a man-made irrigation canal and diversion dam hand-dug on the museum’s grounds in 1719; the Texas Wild exhibit, with expanded dioramas underneath a big Texas sky; and the massive Naylor Family Dinosaur Gallery, a sure family draw, with dinosaur skeletons in fearsome poses. A narrative called Texas Deep Time weaves together three important periods in Texas history: millions of years ago when dinosaurs roamed the land; thousands of years ago when prehistoric Indians studied the night sky; and hundreds of years ago when cattle was king and cowboys in the saddle worked Texas prairie lands.