Ones I have decided I want to visit on upcoming trips:
Hillwood Museum - Washington, DC. The estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post.
The Clemente Museum. Pittsburgh.
Dallas Heritage Village/Old City Park
Heard Museum (McKinney, TX)
Moody Mansion (Galveston, TX)
National Cryptologic Museum - Fort Meade, MD (outside NSA)
The Freer Gallery is my second-favorite museum on the National Mall. It gets relatively little attention compared to all of its neighbors, which is a shame.
Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA Free! http://www.usmcmuseum.com
Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME. The works of NC, Andrew and Jamie Wyeth are showcased beautifully in the Wyeth Center on the museum campus. You can also tour the Olson House, the subject of Andrew Wyeth’s “Christinas World” in nearby Cushing (included in the price of admission).
The newly built Center for Maine Contemporary art is located across from the Farnsworth Art Museum and is worth a visit.
Has anyone mentioned the Clark in Williamstown, MA? A beautiful building full of spectacular art with regular special exhibits. Love it almost as much as the Barnes in Philadelphia! (Actually, I preferred the original setting for that one)
Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum
Pittsburgh’s Warhol museum, also their Aviary.
National Building museum in DC
Storm King, again
Maine Maritime Museum in Bath
Brandywine Art Museum in…Chester? West Chester? PA. Beautiful converted barn
the Spam museum in …wisconsin? North Dakota?
Also, a general plug for the hundreds of little museums everywhere that need support and money. Maybe they aren’t a destination in thmselves, but good places on the way. Local historic societies, etc…they are everywhere.
@sevmom - I love Hillwood in D.C. Fantastic collection of jewels and Faberge eggs from the Russian royal family.
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@FallGirl Great to hear! It has been on my radar for awhile . Have already been to most of the most popular museums and art galleries in DC so have been looking for something different.
Agree with the recommendation of National Building Museum - very interesting, near the Verizon Center in DC.
Huntington Library in Pasadena is lovely–peaceful beautiful gardens and some lovely artwork. They have several places that sell and serve food as well.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s original home in Chicago as well as the neighborhood where he designed many interesting homes–not a museum but fascinating.
Bishop Museum has nice Hawaiian items and Asian as well
Honolulu Academy of Arts has rotating exhibits as well as an extensive Asian collection
Angel Island in SF has some fascinating wooden carvings–not a museum but interesting to see how they were herded there awaiting admittance
Yes to Huntington Library!
The Museum of Glass in Tacoma is kind of not on the beaten path The area outside of the museum is really cool - there is a display of Chihuly’s venetians and a bridge that has a cover displaying his seashells and sea urchin art.
Yes, yes, yes to the Huntington!!! Home of Pinkie and Blue Boy – where I learned that those pictures did NOT come from tissue boxes.
We even had an amazing tea service in Huntington Library once with the best strawberries and heavy cream (plus all the regular wonderful treats). I’m not sure they offer it any more but it is a fond memory.
This is my new favorite thread - I am dying to plan a trip to visit some of these!
I mentioned the Johnstown Flood Museum earlier but should have added that it is very worthwhile to also visit the Johnstown Flood National Memorial. It puts everything in context. https://www.nps.gov/jofl/index.htm
"the Spam museum in …wisconsin? North Dakota?
The Spam Museum is in Austin, Minnesota, which is located in southern Minnesota - not far from the Iowa border. I’ve been there. It’s a surprisingly good museum. Among other things I learned that before the era of TV, Spam used to advertise itself with a troupe of traveling singers that went from town to town performing Broadway-type musical numbers and extolling the virtues of Spam. Spam also had its own symphony orchestra…
What a great idea for a thread- I can’t wait to visit some of these.
One of my favorite museums of all time is the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art in Denver. It is small, but I could spend hours there. It is currently closed for re-location, but I highly recommend it for those who love quirky art. It is set to re-open next year.
Other wonderful museums in the Los Angeles area are the little known Nethercutt Museum (collections of antique musical instruments, antique cars, and antique furniture), the Petersen Auto Museum, and of course, the Getty Center.
Also, another vote for the Huntington Library/Gardens in Pasadena/San Marino and the Tenement Museum in NYC. The Huntington does still have their lovely “tea party” that you can make reservations for.
In old Heidelberg, a tour of a 18th century home that is connected to a art and history museum. Best 8 euros I spent.
Kurpfalzisches Museum, www.museum-heildberg.de
Kind of hidden and I expect most people walk by and don’t know it is there.
When we went to Amsterdam, the host at our B&B told me to get on the train and go to Maurithuis, if I did nothing else on the trip. She was right. https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/
The DDR Museum https://www.ddr-museum.de/en was a quirky, interesting place in Berlin. It’s basically about life in East Germany and had lots of interesting things. Since I lived in West Germany in the 70s, this held a lot of interest for me. (Count me as one who liked the East Berlin side better than the West. It reminded me of the West I knew as a girl.