12 US Museums for the Inquiring Mind

If you think museums are dull and tiresome, you haven’t visited these. It’s time to redefine the term “museum.” For example, lets start with City Museum in St. Louis for the most fun, joyous and hands-on experience, no matter how old you are.

This 10-story, 600,000ft former shoe company warehouse has been converted into a wacky and wild wonderland that will make you rethink museums. There are slides and crawlspaces, treehouses and dinosaur bones, and, yes, that IS a real school bus dangling off the side of the roof. And those ARE real airplanes.

There are lots of surprising museums around the country that will keep you entertained and educated. Here are 12 of my favorites.

Mob Museum, Las Vegas, NV

Step into the world of Al Capone and engage with real-life personalities of organized crime at the Mob Museum. This interactive museum lets you stroll through the dark history of the men and women who made a living through extortion, robbery, counterfeiting, and murder. And the law enforcement officials who went after them.

You’ll see a piece of the wall, complete with the actual bullet holes, where members of Bugs Moran’s gang were shot after being lined up during the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. You can even try solving crimes through forensic exercises.

You’ll probably need a drink after all this, so head downstairs to The Underground, where you’ll find the Speakeasy serving Prohibition-era cocktails and the Distillery that’s creating its own moonshine.

Volo Auto Museum, Volo, IL

Are you searching for a family-friendly and fun museum to visit in Illinois? Picture spending the day at a unique attraction that offers something for every member of your family or group.

If vintage or muscle cars get your motor running, you could spend countless hours here! I was more interested in television and movie cars, but there was a fantastic array of collections of different things like tractors, vintage campers, boats, and many others.

With more than 33 awe-inspiring exhibits, I’m willing to bet that you can find your dream vehicle at the Volo Auto Museum. It’s not just a classic car museum in Illinois, it’s also a family-friendly destination.

Alamo Mission, San Antonio, TX

Once known as the Misión San Antonio de Valero, The Alamo is a historic fortress complex established in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries. It was the Battle of the Alamo site from 1836, where American folk heroes James Bowie and Davy Crockett died.

Today it is a part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site and museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District. An experienced Alamo history guide will walk you through Alamo Plaza, where you can stand in the footsteps of heroes, revealing the story of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo and take you to crucial battlefield locations that are today hidden under San Antonio’s streets.

Your tour will end inside the exhibit: “The Alamo: A Story Bigger Than Texas,” which tells the 300 year history of the place through unique artifacts that you won’t see anywhere else in the world.

This visit is ideal for adults and families with older children. On your way, you will walk through the Church, Long Barrack, the Convento Courtyard, Losoya House, Garden, Exhibit Hall, and Encampment.

The Field Museum, Chicago, IL

The Field Museum has permanent exhibits that range from the earliest fossils to present cultures around the world. Attracting nearly 2 million visitors each year, this museum houses a collection of over 20 million cultural and anthropological artifacts from every corner of the world.

This museum includes a T-Rex, the best-preserved fossil ever found. Named after the woman who found it in 1990, this 13 ft fossil is 67 million years old.

Another remarkable exhibit is the Egyptian burial chamber, which includes 23 real mummies and a section dedicated to the natural habitats of animals and insects living underground. Explore cultures present and past, find the latest scientific discoveries, and travel the world right in downtown Chicago.

Museum of  Illusions, San Francisco, California

What makes this innovative museum so special is that you become part of the world-class art and leave with spectacular photos in which you are the star. With over 40 different 3D illusions, you can survive an earthquake on a cable car, become a professional surfer, and take a magic carpet ride above the Golden Gate Bridge.

Ensure that your phone is charged so you can try out different angles and learn about viewpoints. By yourself? No worries! Tripods are available on site for you to set up your phone or camera. You can also choose the VIP experience, which gives you your own personal photographer.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami, FL

Built in 1916 as a winter escape, this extravagant villa pays tribute to the Italian Renaissance. The museum includes much of the original furnishings and artwork and is surrounded by lush, formal gardens.

This is the former estate of James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in Miami’s present-day Coconut Grove neighborhood. The early 20th century Vizcaya estate includes extensive Italian Renaissance gardens, native woodland landscape, and a historic village outbuildings compound.

In the Miami area, where things are new and modern, this museum has plenty of material for understanding its history. I find it interesting for people who like history, botany, and architecture.

The House On The Rock, Spring Green, WI

This place has been a work in progress since the day it opened. It began when Alex Jordan had a goal to build an artificial retreat as awe-inspiring as the view from the Rock upon which he would eventually build the house.

From that tiny spark, the House on the Rock has evolved to include displays and collections of the exotic and unusual. Alex Jordan’s fantastic retreat was built atop a chimney of Rock and opened to the public in 1960. He used to explain his sprawling creation of collections, displays, and galleries by saying that “one thing just led to another.”

You must first drive up a winding driveway half a mile long, past gigantic urns and sculptures of dragons placed like sentries along the road. On your tour, you will explore some of the most unique collections, including a 200ft sea creature, automated music machines, and a “collection of collections” featuring everything from suits of armor to ivory carvings.

Marvel at the world’s largest carousel, experience America’s past while strolling down the Streets of Yesterday, and make your way through the Galleries. A walk through the Infinity Room extending an astonishing 218 feet leads to awe-inspiring views of the valley below.

Art Institute, Chicago, IL

Find out why the Art Institute of Chicago is the only museum in the world to be highly ranked by TripAdvisor four years in a row! The Art Institute in Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States.

Known for its curatorial efforts and fame among visitors, approximately 1.5 million people visit annually. Experience the most extraordinary Impressionist collection outside of Paris, and view contemporary masterpieces in the sensational Modern Wing.

Its collection, overseen by 11 curatorial departments, includes iconic works such as Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, At the Moulin Rouge, and Grant Wood’s American Gothic.

More than 30 special exhibitions contribute to its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art mounted yearly that illuminate aspects of the collection and present cutting-edge curatorial and scientific research. In this museum, you can travel the globe through galleries dedicated to the art of the old and modern world!

Florida Holocaust Museum, St Petersburg, FL

Founded in 1992, this is one of the largest Holocaust museums in the US. It was founded by Walter and Edith Lobenberg, both of whom were German Jews who escaped imprisonment in Nazi Germany by immigrating to the Land of the Free. This is one of three Holocaust Museums certified by the American Alliance of Museums.

The museum works with the local community and survivors of the Holocaust to grow awareness and to educate the public on the accounts of the Holocaust. As opposed to other Holocaust museums, this one lacks disturbing graphics so you can take your children or grandchildren and educate but not frighten them from the experience. The lesson learned within these walls is to “be an up-stander as opposed to a bystander.” You will walk out the door with grains of compassion firmly planted in your heart.

Notably, the Anne Frank exhibit is exceptional. There is also a Civil Rights exhibit. Everything here is not only thoroughly researched, but also presented with thoughtfulness and care.

National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN

The National Civil Rights Museum is actually a collection of museums and historical buildings in the “Home of the Blues.” The exhibits take you through the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present.

It is created around the former Lorraine Motel, which was the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Following the assassination of King, Room 306, where King died, and the neighboring room were preserved as a memorial to the activist leader.

During the segregation era, the Lorraine Motel lodged African American clientele. Interestingly, guests through the 1960s were musicians including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Picket, and many others.

Two other buildings and their adjoining property, also connected with the King assassination, have been acquired as part of the museum complex.

Museum Of Science And Industry, Chicago, IL

This really is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere! Held in the only remaining structure from the 1893 World’s Fair, the Museum of Science and Industry is a Chicago must-see!

You’ll come across 14 acres of hands-on exhibits and get the chance to take a run in a human-sized hamster wheel, see a fully functioning eco-friendly home, board a 727 that hangs from the ceiling, and send your pulse to a 13-foot, 3D beating heart! MSI is not a place where you wander around quietly and observe. No way! You get involved in the fun, and learn by doing.

You will also experience giant bolts of lightning, making a rainbow, and manipulate an indoor tornado at “Science Storms.” Navigate a 1,800sqft mirror maze and test your face for symmetry in the museum’s “Numbers in Nature” exhibit. Dive into a simulated coal mine where you explore the mechanism behind digging energy from the ground.

Get consumed by the opulent Fairy Castle, a giant dollhouse with tiny chandeliers that flash with actual diamonds and floors laid with complex stone patterns.

Tour the confined quarters of a U-505 German submarine, the only one seized during World War II. Explore the free interactive exhibits surrounding the sub, which give a stunning insight into the strategy behind the war at sea. Discover how scientists can make frogs’ eyes glow or watch baby chicks emerge from their shells at the “Genetics–Decoding Life” exhibit.

American Prohibition Museum, Savannah, GA

Booze was outlawed,  but that doesn’t mean drinking didn’t happen. This isn’t your average “Dry” Museum. The American Prohibition Museum is dedicated to the history of Prohibition. While here, guests will travel back in time to the early 1900s, as the “booze problem” was a priority for American politicians.

Visit the Temperance Movement exhibit and scan through the posters, pamphlets, and propaganda that inspired the American people to vote the country dry and learn about the prohibitionist leaders who drove the fight during this chaotic time in history.

Learn to make “white lightning” at the Moonshine exhibit while exploring the most extensive collection of stills. You can also see some authentic flair at the Flapper Craze exhibit and learn why the trend was huge in the twenties. Dance the Charleston and immerse yourself into the flapper culture, known for its intoxicating energy.

Find all sorts of evidence at the Crime & Gangsters exhibit, including tommy guns from seized items of the mobsters in the twenties, and learn about the dangerous behavior that landed many of them in the slammer.

To end your visit, check out the 1920s speakeasy and enjoy craft cocktails served with a side of history.