I just reviewed an extensive list of Halls of Fame on Wikipedia. And I’ve been to only one of them; the National Toy Hall of Fame which is located near where I live.
It’s a little unusual. I travel quite a bit. But I guess Halls of Fame aren’t the kind of attraction I seek out. I like pro football, for example, and I’ve driven by Canton several times (twice this year). But I’ve never felt the desire to stop and visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Baseball, Cooperstown. In early 60s. Not impressed, but I’ve never been impressed with museums. I like knowing about history, but I don’t care if I see the old things or not.
I saw them play – Musial, Williams, Robinson, Mantle, Spahn, Mays, a rookie named Aaron. That’s my Hall of Fame.
Rock n Roll.
Automotive. I used to live about a half mile from it. Figured I’d check it out one day, and it was pretty boring. Not sure what I was expecting, but it featured a bunch of engineers and auto execs I’d never heard of.
That’s the only one that I’ve been to, and that was purely coincidental. I was doing a job in Waco a couple of decades ago, and it was just down the road from my motel. I stopped in for a very extended lunch hour and it was quite enjoyable. I even ate my lunch on the grounds sitting under a tree on the bank of the Brazos.
Baseball Hall of Fame
New York Mets Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cowgirl Hall of Fame (Fort Worth, TX)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame
Motorsports Hall of Fame (Novi, MI)
Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum (Phoenix, AZ) (Hey, it’s on Wikipedia’s list of Halls of Fame)
Toy Hall of Fame (within Strong Childrens Museum, Rochester, NY)
Robot Hall of Fame (within Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, PA)
ETA: My go-to list of which museums are considered Halls of Fame was this.
Football, Canton, Ohio - Meh, and I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the players have, or already died of, brain injuries
Baseball, Cooperstown, N.Y. - Well-presented and a lot of fun; Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on first?” routine is on a continuous loop in one gallery
Basketball, Springfield, Mass. - Not bad, although I was a little taken aback by how relentless the product placement and ads were. At the time, Michael Jordan had a gallery, paid for by Nike, all to himself.
Rock and Roll, Cleveland, Ohio - Outstanding! Lots of good stuff, including handwritten lyrics by Lennon and McCartney; Jim Morrison’s Cub Scout uniform; bizarre Glam Rock costumes worn by Bowie, Mercury and others; Janis Joplin’s psychedelically-painted car; stage decorations from Pink Floyd’s The Wall tour, etc. Good signage to interpret it all and put it in context, too. There are minitheaters showing rock-related videos and films. When I was there, they had a U2 3D concert movie that was absolutely terrific - a better view of the band performing than you’d ever have IRL.