Daytona USA is this edutainment thing at the Daytona International Speedway. It is fascinating! I don’t give a gnat’s fart about NASCAR and I had the best time there. There’s this really interesting history of racing museum, and then there are really interesting exhibits about things like how they put together the radio broadcast of races and stuff, and you can take a tour of the track which is really, really interesting. Totally awesome!
Thank you.
The Mutter Museum shares the distinction, along with The Getty in LA, of being a must-see when I go to the city. Even if I only have one day and I have been there before.
I love the Exploratorium in San Francisco!
To punch a Canadian girl in the throat or go to an aeronautical museum in Brazil?
Since this has been resurrected, I’ll mention the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. Interesting exhibits on the history of shoes and shoes around the world.
The Shakespeare Society of America in Moss Landing CA (between Santa Cruz and Monterey). I’m not exactly a fan of The Bard, but the place is a real treasure trove of models, costumes, books, props, posters and the like. The real star of the show is the owner Terry. He’ll gladly take time to show you all around the place while telling his story and asking you about yours.
Both those ships sailed long ago, and yet I remain.
EBR-1
A museum only a science geek could love. But, it’s a real part of history, and a well-done little museum, worth the drive out to the middle of nowhere.
The British library in London was unexpectedly impressive for me. They have a bunch of stuff in display, Magna Cartas (plural I think most of the existing copies, though I guess if you seen one you’ve seen em all), Gutenberg Bibles, some of the oldest Korans, all sorts of stuff.
I’ll agree with the British Library museum. In addition to the items mentioned, I recall a handwritten letter by Queen Elizabeth I, and Robert Scott’s diary opened to his final entry. Plenty of beautiful illuminated manuscripts too.
The Music Museum branch of the Czech National Museum in Prague.
In it you can see on display various musical instruments from the 19th and early 20th Century, when they were experimenting with different key systems and such. You see versions of what could hearken to modern recognizable concert instruments, but in various experimental versions that are long disused and forgotten.
Moreover, the museum has an interactive quality: for selected instruments, you can press a button to hear it being played. About the funkiest specimen is an experimental piano (or two) from the 1920s on which you can play not only the chromatic scale (the major scale - white keys - with half-tones - the black keys) but also quarter tones! (The piece in the interactive recording sounds quite cacophonic).
A similar experience to what I describe above can be had at St. Cecilia’s Hall - Concert Room & Music Museum of the University of Edinburgh. And both museums also offer live concerts.
Three worth mentioning, none particulary famous but I found each one fascinating.
Solent Sky: Solent Sky - Wikipedia An Aviation museum in Southampton, England, if your waiting for or have arrived from a cruise it’s worth the 30 minute walk. Place is jam-packed with exhibits, including a Shorts Sandringham flying boat. Plenty of WWI/WWII stuff and some side exhibits (they had one featuring firefighters when I was there) all worth seeing…and I hadn’t a clue it existed until I saw it on a map while walking in Southampton.
National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, NV: National Atomic Testing Museum - Wikipedia Not what most people come to Las Vegas for and it’s a bit off the beaten track, but lots of stuff in a small space and a utterly fascinating study of a bit of history that did touch Las Vegas for awhile.
Western Museum of Mining and Industry Western Museum of Mining & Industry - Wikipedia : It’s off the beaten path and the times I have been there it’s been almost empty, but the equipment is in great shape and some of it still works. The displays are well-organized and informative and it is fascinating if you have the chance to go there.
The Museum of Printing, right down the road in Haverhill, is fascinating too. (Maybe more so for us old retired typesetters though.)
I remember stepping into the Bank of Canada museum in Ottawa. I’m not sure why I went there; I think I was just passing by and saw it was free. I’m not normally a coin guy, but I remember being fascinated by the drawer after drawer after drawer of coins from around the world. (That’s where I first saw the term “Hejaz”, which I had to look up later.)
There is a museum of torture in Carcassonne, France. Torture is definitely not something I am interested in, but we saw the sign and thought, “Why not?”
There are a lot of ways to torture people, and one thing I discovered was that the purpose was rarely to extract information or confessions, but to deter others.
The most horrid was a simple wooden pole set vertically with a blunt point at the top. I will leave it to your imagination as to where it would have been inserted.
I will third the British Library. It is the bomb.
As does the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels. Loved it! And it’s in a very cool old building to boot.