If you ever happen to find yourself in South Hadley any time between May and October, and the idea…read moreof wandering amongst scrimshaw trinkets, ruby glass, Americana of uncertain provenance, and assorted mineralia sounds appealing to you, make your way posthaste to this veritable cabinet of curiosities. Assembled in a deconsecrated church literally uprooted and brought to South Hadley during the displacement of five towns caused by the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir, this museum collection is amongst the quirkiest places Western Massachusetts, a distillation of the local ethos circa 1870. Did I mention that admission is free?

Spend an hour here and you'll feel like you've discovered something (rather than having it all…read morehanded to you in one church-shaped package by Mr. Skinner). Hunting around this museum is an adventure unto itself. Every nook or cranny has something worth looking at. The staff is super-nice, although they aren't going to know a lot more about every object than is written on the ID cards -- and most items don't have cards! It can get pretty hot on a sunny day without a/c in the building, so beware of that. I love oddball little museums, and this fits the profile perfectly. One guy who really liked collecting crap donated said crap, and here it is! Enjoy!

Really cool little museum. They had a sports exhibition that was really neat!!! The festival of…read moretrees is an awesome fundraiser they do that is amazing!!!!

Just had a totally lovely visit to the museum after hiking the Midstate trail. It's chock full of…read moreinteresting local historical tidbits, beautiful pieces of local craftspersonship and personality-filled oddities. Couldn't be happier with my $3 admission, and the vintage postcards I bought to support their efforts. Independent, small town museums are so important! And this one is both highly relevant to the town, and lots of fun to visit! Highly recommend :)

We have lived in the Peterborough area for over 15 years and driven by this museum many times, but…read morenever stopped. After visiting yesterday, I wished we would have stopped sooner. This is a small art and cultural museum located on Main Street in Peterborough, NH. The museum is three floors. It was $21 for my husband, 10 year old and I. The first floor is the entrance and gift shop. The second floor is the exhibit area with some hands on exhibits. The third floor is all different types of musical instruments and games. My 10 year enjoyed playing some of the instruments and games. We spent about one and half to two hours there. This would have been a perfect place to come when she was a little younger. I would highly recommend visiting this museum.

This is a small museum that is great for kids and adults. It's right in downtown beautiful…read morePeterborough, NH. The museum has two floors and a gift shop filled with musical instruments, dolls, toys, clothes, kids' books, puppets, costumes, paintings and trinkets FROM AROUND THE WORLD. There are many interactive things in their collection. You can gently and respectfully play with many of the instruments, dolls, puppets and toys and you can try on some of the costumes. The admission is only $5/adults, $3/kids. Check out the PHOTOS. After the museum, there are many trendy shops and restaurants right near by to enjoy.

Very educational. The guide was very knowledgeable. My child…read morehad a project and we were able to gather information

One of the best kept secrets in Central Massachusetts. Not the easiest place to find in Oxford but…read moreso worth the visit. The house isn't often visited we were told by the staff, so very likely you'll get a private tour. Very rich history, many, many, MANY items that belonged to Clara Barton or her family. Rooms set up to show the evolution of her history from child, to school teacher, to the angel of the battlefield during the Civil War, to activist, to her twilight years. What museum on earth would not only have Clara Barton's bell for when she was a school teacher, but will actually allow you to hold it and ring it? Seriously?!? This is how close you can get to 1800's history! The area it is located in is rural and beautiful, one of the nicest areas in Central Massachusetts. Suggest having breakfast at Carl's Diner and then visiting the Clara Barton Birthplace Museum to walk it off. You won't regret this amazing slice of history tucked away on the back roads.

Had one of the best tours I've ever been given. The people running the house are so knowledgeable…read moreand such hard workers at keeping the place running. I would definitely recommend it if you are visiting! Some of the friendliest people I've met on this trip.

Excellent collection of Victorian clothing and earlier furniture. A pleasantly delivered tour was…read moregiven to me because I only had 15 minutes. I could easily spent five times that amount hearing about the history from the highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic docents.

What a beautiful home. Open to the general public for tours at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm, the door is kept…read morelocked. We knocked a couple of times before it was opened. We were a bit early for the tour and waited in the hallway until tour time began. One other gentleman joined the tour on this weekday visit. The house was moved from down the hill to it's current location in 1929 leaving behind a kitchen addition and outbuilding. Originally the home was mostly a store with a ground floor kitchen and living quarters over head. Later, the shop space was turned into a small office, central staircase, hallway, dining room and parlor as it is today displayed. The tour included information about the original owners family and their impact on the City of Worcester. The building was temporarily used as rental property, one of which was a men's club who tore down walls to build a bowling alley. Because why not? The museum has restored that area to be as close to period as possible. Some items in the home are original to the family, including a beautiful harp. Other items in the home are appropriate to the period and include some beautiful dresses, furniture and artwork from one of the gentleman's 'tour of the Continent'. One fun piece on display is a Lego mock-up of the home. The tour guide is very knowledgeable and friendly. Parking is located next to the building. I'm not sure if it's wheelchair accessible due to it's age. There certainly is no elevator to reach the upper level and the staircase is steep. Some of the wall paper has been reproduced from pieces found during renovation and the lower level floors covered in a reproduced 'floor cloth' which the tour guide described as 'the original linoleum'. Very interesting view into life in Worcester during the late 1700's and early 1800's.

Great tour. Guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Showing just a few photos so you can see the…read morerest for yourself! Go there - it's awesome!

I cannot believe this place can run in such a rude manner. We have been calling and emailing this…read morehistorical place about some lost AirPods. They have not responded at all. We've searched for them and then got yelled at because we brought a lot of people to search for them. I found out anyone can simply reset them. I am very disgusted because they least they could do is email me or call me and say they have or have not seen them. They will not respond. I am starting to wonder if they found them and choosing to keep them. I do not know!

I got married here, so of course I am going to be somewhat biased about the place…read more As a wedding venue, it was perfect for a smallish wedding of about 90 guests. The grounds were fantastic for everyone to wander around, the foliage and landscaping actually made the need for us to spend half our budget on flowers unnecessary, and the interior was equally gorgeous, with hard wood everything, a grand staircase/foyer that was excellent for dancing and toasts and lots of rooms for a dessert buffet and a large dining area. It is however a historic estate, which means that there are limitations in terms of vendors you can use and decorations (eg, no lit candles indoors) however since we had a late summer wedding, we pretty much stayed outside the entire time so these weren't huge concerns. The event coordinator is -terrifying- but she knows what she is doing. She's very gruff, all business, but really, you're not there to make friends with her, so just smile and nod and everything will go ok. The price wasn't bad for the event, and there is a discount for Waltham residents (which we were not. boo)

Absolutely fantastic museum, I wish I could have brought my grandpa with me, he would have loved…read morethis (he served on a mine planter in the Atlantic in WWII). I went on Memorial Day, and was surprised it wasn't busier. You can ride in a tank! And I'm sad I missed that for sure. I ran in an hour before they closed, or I'd have spent more time inside. Very moving exhibits throughout, it makes you think.

Really could (should?) be called war musuem. Here you will find a wealth of information and dozens…read moreof tanks and a handful of planes all wartime related. There's even a handful that are one of a kind and only displayed here. There's also a couple videos/presentations available to watch. So there's ample information in what is a relatively small space. There are staff milling around throught the musuem, so if you have questions you won't have to go far. I think during the summer they even offer rides in tanks for an added fee. The musuem takes about 1.5 hours to complete and you can save a couple bucks if you buy your ticket online, and its also good for any non-special event day, so you don't even have to use it that day. The driveway is also about 3/4 of a mile long, so its pretty far off the road. Overall it was as fun way to spend a couple hours inside on a raw rainy early spring day.

The RISD Museum in Providence is one of those places that catches you off guard with how much it…read morehas to offer, especially if you are not already familiar with it going in. I found the building spanning six floors, and the spaces were well organized throughout, giving each piece enough room to be appreciated properly without the galleries ever feeling sparse or rushed. It is the kind of museum where I could spend a couple of hours moving through it and still feel like I left things unexplored. The collection is the main reason to visit, and it covers a genuinely impressive range, from ancient artifacts and historical portraits all the way through to modern and contemporary works. The curation does a good job of making those transitions between periods feel intentional rather than disjointed, and the rotating exhibits add a reason to come back beyond what is already on permanent display. The Liz Collins exhibit drew a lot of attention during its run and was a strong example of how well the museum handles contemporary work alongside its more classical holdings. Staff were present and approachable throughout the floors, and coat lockers near the entrance were available, a small but appreciated detail on a longer visit. The building was easy to navigate even on a first trip, and the overall experience felt well managed without being overly structured. One thing worth knowing before planning a trip is that Sundays offer free admission to all visitors, which makes it an easy addition to a Providence weekend without having to think twice. Weekday visits run quieter if you prefer more space and a slower pace through the galleries. For a museum connected to an art school, it holds up as one of the stronger art museums in the region and is well worth the time.

The RISD Museum is worth a visit. I'm sharing photos of the pieces that stood out to me most. I…read morestarted in the RISD student galleries, which were full of impressive work. my favorite was a floor installation that looks like a woven rug but is actually made entirely of salt. So many pieces made you stop and think, "How did they do that?!" I visited the whole museum, but my favorites were the Costume & Textile galleries, the exhibit on kingfishers in art and poetry, the European Grand Gallery with its oil paintings and the 18th/19th‑century American rooms in Pendleton House. I also loved how the museum's architecture fits together like a puzzle across several older buildings and street entrances. That was a surprising add-on to the visit. Extra tip: street parking is nearly impossible. Check their website for the free weekend parking lots (within walking distance) they make the visit much easier.