National Eagle Center
Learn about and see live bald eagles at the National Eagle Center, in Wabasha, Minnesota along the Mississippi and the Great River Road.
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Goldwell Open Air Museum
Strange things happen in the desert. It is a place of extreme temperatures and temperaments. It is a place of rugged self-sufficiency and creative invention born of necessity. Those that survive here are the outliers. And in the remote outskirts of the Nevada desert, along the border of Death Valley National Park, is one of the strangest destinations we have encountered: the Goldwell Open Air Museum.
New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum
We raced through Texas. We have plans for that state for a little later in the winter. Right now, we have some people to see further west. For all the fury of travel, we do make a point to get out of the car each day. Today, that stop is along the very small wedge of New Mexico that is traced by the 10: the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.
Adams Museum
Adams Museum in the gem in the crown of Deadwood, South Dakota. Most every other part of this tourist town is missable but the Adams Museum justifies a detour. This extensive cabinet of curiosities encompasses gold nuggets, taxidermy oddities, antique counterfeiting tools, a plesiosaur, and a nudist colony. Never forget the nudist colony.
Tri-State Museum
Next to the Geographic Center of the Nation (or, at least, its monument) is the Tri-State Museum. This one-room collection of community artifacts in Belle Fourche, South Dakota includes memorabilia and oddities from prehistoric fossils, cattle ranching, WWII, and modern industries.
The Oasis Bordello Museum
Oasis Bordello Museum in Wallace, Idaho is the opposite of what I anticipated. Positioned on yet another brick lined block of shops, one might expect something playing up old west iconography. Yet, while it traces its origins to early mining clientele, it continued operation into the late 1980s. Instead of corsets and feather boas, the closets are filled with polyester bathing suites and sequin dresses.
City Museum
Yes, we are back in St. Louis and this time, it's serious. We woke up at 5 am to arrive with enough time to explore the City Museum before it closed at 5PM. Oh, it was worth it.
Hershey, PA
Hershey: the town, the factory, the chocolate, and the man. A museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania dedicated to the eponymous sweet confection magnate.
Washington DC
DC was delightful. While we did stop by the requisite Lincoln, Jefferson, and Vietnam memorials, we spent most of our time in two places: the American History Museum, and the Natural History Museum. We saw diamonds, Kermit the Frog, and Dorothy’s slippers. The greatest surprise was when we stumbled onto a small display in the shipping section of the American History Museum which included a small speck of gold under a magnifying glass. Yet this little speck is attributed as the first nugget discovered by John Marshal at Sutter’s Mill, sparking the California Gold Rush.