Honestly really cool little museum. We pulled off the highway just out of curiosity while on a…read morecross country trip and really was pleasantly surprised. Didnt know what to expect but it def surpassed expectations and learned some new things. The staff there are helpful, knowledgeable and above all passionate about this tiny museum and more people should take the stop as they pass through. Especially if you're someone who an has an interest aviation.

I had no idea that Wilbur Wright's Birthplace was a roadside attraction. This was pretty cool to…read moresee!

Doesn't the name Minnetrista make you think that you'll be visiting a place with puppets? Like…read moremarionettes, right? Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there are no puppets or marionettes here. But there is an exhibit dedicated to Ball jars. Fun fact: Minnetrista was created by the Ball family, who created Ball canning jars, which you can learn about here. They are also the "Ball" behind Ball State University, which is located in Muncie. I had no idea! You will learn interesting facts like these, and others about this area of Indiana, at Minnetrista. The main museum itself is a bit small, and part of it is conference and meeting rooms. But the museum is just one part of Minnetrista. This is actually a 40-acre campus with gardens and paved trails. As you stroll along the grounds, you'll come across some houses. Some of the houses are part of Minnetrista, and you are welcome to pop inside and check out what's going on. What's going on in one of them is an exhibit dedicated to Bob Ross, the painter. At the Bob Ross Experience, you can step inside the historic home where The Joy of Painting was filmed, and see some of the actual filming equipment and art supplies that were used to create the television show. It's sort of surreal that Bob was painting his happy little trees right here in humble Muncie. Some of the houses that you encounter are not a part of Minnetrista, but belong to IU Health or other entities. It's not really clearly marked on the houses which is which. I'm sure if you consulted a map, it might tell you! I consulted no such map, and I was just walking around blindly. I visited during the late fall, when it was cold and the gardens were dormant, for the most part. But I bet this place is amazing in the spring and summer, when everything is in bloom.

Minnetrista is an event center and museum that was built in 1988 by the five Ball brothers. The…read moremodern center is part of a complex of museums and gardens on the former Ball property that sits across from the White River in Muncie. There is an admission fee to visit the galleries of $15/adult and $12/child, but the ticket grants admission to the other museums and garden as well. During our visit, we saw the Narwhal exhibit, which is a small exhibit dedicated to narwhals. A curator greeted us at the entrance and was available to answer questions. My granddaughter is a narwhal fan enjoyed the interactive displays. We also visited a special children's exhibit called Good Night Forest. Again a curator welcomed us and invited us to build a backpack and enjoy the nighttime activities set up for the kids. My granddaughter loved the firer fly dance, wandering through the dark forest listening for animals and the shadow puppet show. There were fun and educational activities suitable for all ages. We also visited a permanent exhibit describing the Ball Store History. I liked seeing all the vintage items and describing them to my granddaughter. We also toured a display for a local artist competition. The staff is super friendly and engaging. The center is immaculate and accessible. There is plenty of parking in their dedicated lot. Minnetrista is a great legacy from the Ball family to the community. Exhibits change and can be found on their website. I highly recommend a visit if you like art and history.

You can tell that our tour guide was very passionate about Henry county history! Many cool objects…read morefrom old cars, to military uniforms, to kitchen cabinets help tell the story of this county and the people would made it. No tour would be complete without talking about the infamous Catherine Winters case (I'm in the step mother camp). Very thankful to the historical society and the NCHC library for host me!

There's a pretty good chance that if you ever drive east on U.S. 40 that you've driven by the…read moreHuddleston Farmhouse Inn Museum in Cambridge City. I believe it's actually right on the Cambridge City/Mount Auburn line. Set up on a hill, this 1841 farmhouse was the home of Quakers John and Susannah Huddleston and their 11 children. The home also offered two "traveler's kitchens" offering a place to cook and sleep for those who traveled. In other words, this lovely porch was always busy. The lower level of the farmhouse is accessible and National Road Heritage Site exhibits offer a glimpse into travel on what is known as National Road in some cities, East Washington Street in Indy, U.S. 40 in some places, and in some smaller towns simply Main Street. This farmhouse now is host to Indiana Landmarks' Eastern Regional Office and the office of the Indiana National Road Association. The farmhouse, barn, and exhibits are available for touring by appointment. You can also rent the main level of the house, the barn, and the grounds for a variety of events. It's all quite spacious and could easily host weddings. The organization largely uses volunteers and if you volunteer at least 30 hours annually you get an Indiana Landmarks membership, free admission to Huddleston House events, and the Indiana Landmarks bi-monthly magazine. The floor level of the barn is mostly accessible, though certainly upper areas are not. While I often mark off businesses that are not accessible, when it comes to historical sites I'm certainly respectful of the inherent limitations. The home is a three-level home that was made using 125,000 bricks. The entire farm is 78 acres and includes the main house, spring kitchen, smoke house, and two barns. Research indicates there was originally another building on the grounds. Indiana Landmarks purchased the property in 1966 with funding supplied by Eli Lilly (the person, not the company). The house, barn, and other outer buildings have been restored. In addition to being able to rent it, the farm hosts a variety of period-appropriate events. I drove by this farm almost every weekend for quite some time on my way to seminary before finally stopping to check it out. It's a beautiful farm and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Have a 18month old that just loves this place. Great place for even older kids to play on the…read moreindoor play equipment. My son could live at the water table. Place is always clean, staff is always welcoming and bathrooms are always clean. We will be back many more times can't rate this place high enough on family fun.

Just barely three stars, and only three stars because my children seemed to enjoy our visit…read more Like someone else said, this children's museum has seen better days, and those days were probably about 20 years ago. Everything is very old, dingy and dated. There are literally computer printouts taped to the walls as decorations. Many of the exhibits have broken and dirty objects in them, like torn upholstery on the chairs, dirty play food, torn carpet. Now, there is some art that is laminated, but those are peeling off the walls and placed on the wall all crooked. All these things make the museum feel so neglected. We got there on a weekday right when it opened, and the staff was still vacuuming while the children were running around and playing. Really? You can't do this before you open? Children were running around and jumping over the vacuum cord. Then, when I went to the gift shop to buy some food, the same dumb vacuum was placed right in front of the door so that I had to walk around it. Each of these things are not very big, but it's little things like this that show lack of attention to detail and bad customer service. The restroom is extremely old, and the handicap stall that I visited did not have a working lock. The toilet seat was literally disintegrating. The whole museum is not very well ventilated, and I kept smelling kid farts everywhere I went. (FYI: Kids fart a lot.) This museum is two stories, but when we visited, the exhibits upstairs were blocked off and no one could use them. Our visit was contained to the downstairs portion. I came with low expectations, but this was ridiculous and disappointing. Well, disappointing to me. My kids had fun, which is the whole point of visiting a children's museum, right? Nevertheless, I most likely won't be back unless the children beg me, which probably won't happen because there are many other places to play that are not in a state of disrepair.

My school went their for a field trip and we had a blast we got to see the inventor of cruise…read morecontrol and he is from this area and he was blind

Always love coming to this great museum. They have such a great collection of Indiana history. They…read morehave a great array of history from the Perfect Circle Piston ring company. They also have a lot of great memorabilia showcasing a man that not a lot of people know about, but something he created millions of people use everyday. Cruise control. Ralph Teeter was a blind man from this area who created cruise control to be able to get around and be independent. The museum manager who is always here is such a friendly man Whois so knowledgable.

Do you like hoops? Do you like history? Do you have an appreciation for the roots of the game,…read morethose who played it at a young age, and an understanding of a passionate fan base housed within a state's borders? Then this is THE place is for you. Disclaimer: I'm a Jayhawk, so I *think* I know ball, but believe me, Indiana is THE authority on high school basketball. There is no better treasure chest of names & faces, photos & artifacts, and timeless displays than the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Dr. James Naismith may have invented the game, but Indiana perfected the art, etching memories into our sports conscience. Some names you might recognize, some you'll definitely know, and others you may not realize had Hoosier State roots. From the time you enter and get to watch a short film on the state's rich history of high school hoops (appropriately titled 'Only In Indiana'), you are ferried down multiple avenues in time. From the miracle of tiny Milan HS in 1954 (the basis for the movie 'Hoosiers') through the last all-school tournament in the 1990s, the moments are all here. Watch footage of Bobby Plump's championship-winning shot in 1954 or listen to John Wooden's coaching talks. Take the time to peruse the early days of Branch McCracken or the Franklin Wonder Five or just marvel at the moments captured from the youth of Robertson, Bird, or Alford. This isn't so much a museum as it is a cathedral, an epicenter of hardwood achievement. If basketball had a Vatican, then this is the apse & altar on which to pay homage. A handful of greats are memorialized - in stained glass, mind you - while the enshrinees are housed in a wing all their own. This state pulses basketball through its veins and the passion isn't only seen, it is felt, with a fervor that can't be matched. Admission is $5 and parking is right next to a New Castle high school, so there's lots of space. There is a billboard on I-70 that reads 'In 49 other states, it's just basketball...BUT THIS IS INDIANA' and if that doesn't pique your interest, then you're not trying. Take the time to walk these corridors. See what you might remember. Learn about that which you may not have known or forgotten. But mostly, just pay tribute to the greatest collection of high school basketball history & achievement that you could ever find.

What a cool museum and the admission is only $5! I made the mistake of only getting there an hour…read morebefore they closed and that wasn't enough time. If you're into hoops and history, allow yourself a minimum two hours to check out the exhibits. Their theater shows a 12-minute video about what it means to play high school basketball in Indiana and it made me cry. The staff is extremely friendly. My only nitpick is some of their new interactive exhibits don't work very well, but the staff admits upfront that they are still working out the kinks with the new technology. While you're at the Hall of Fame, check out a basketball game at New Castle High School, the biggest basketball gym in the country, which is next door!

One thousand percent, I am not the audience for this museum. But that said, I had a great time…read moreexploring and seeing all of the model airplanes and aviation accoutrement. The National Model Aviation Museum is the largest model aviation museum in the world. Who knew that Muncie held such a treasure? At this very specific museum, you will see model aircraft of all sorts, memorabilia, equipment, and even a space for children with simulators. I would keep your expectations low for the children's area, though. Other than two simulators, there is not much for children to touch and explore. But if you're an adult who loves model airplanes, you will have a great time here. I was told that people who study model airplane history will sometimes come here to go through the collection of books, magazines and manuals that the museum owns. There's a whole library that you can explore, if that's your thing. This is a neat place to visit if you're in Muncie, simply because there's nothing else like it in the area.

I'm not a big RC person, though I used control lines as a kid and built a few balsa models, before…read morerunning into the cost of radios and eventually deciding to get my pilot's license. But it's a fun hobby, and there are some very impressive models out there- and some crossover to homebuilding planes and to military drones, etc., so it's pretty interesting. The museum is outstanding. Covers things from the Wrights and others building models to test theories, etc., through the golden age of, say, the '30s through '50s, up to the current new golden age with jets and helos and a range of planes from hard-to-crash-and-break entry models to ones that cost as much as a new car. Loads of examples, all well cared for and displayed. A surprise around every corner. Not huge, but big enough to spend a couple of hours. There's a workshop you can see through big windows, and a library you can use. Plenty of models and trinkets and clothes in the gift shop. Well worth a visit if you are at all into aviation.

I love a good hidden gem. The David Owsley Museum of Art is hidden in plain sight, though, because…read moreit's located on the campus of Ball State University, one of the biggest universities in Indiana. So, I guess, if you know, you know. But if you don't know? Then, in the words of the late Biggie Smalls, aka the Notorious B.I.G. (RIP): If you don't know, now you know. Either way, you'll find this surprisingly large art museum in Ball State's Old Quad. Parking is kind of a pain: You'll need to park in one of the metered lots. Make sure you pay! Those campus parking attendants don't play and are always out in full force. The museum houses works of art from all around the world. I saw everything from African masks to Greek statues. It's kind of amazing to me the amount of art this place holds. There are two stories of things to see. I forgot that I was on a college campus -- it really is a real-deal art museum. Best of all: This museum is free! Just stroll right in and peruse at your leisure. Just don't plan to visit on a Sunday or Monday, because it's closed on those days.

The Ball State Museum of Art has long benefited from the generosity of the Industrialist Ball…read moreFamily. The renamed "David Owsley Museum of Art" continues that generosity from the grandson of the Ball founders. This two story museum is located in the heart of the Ball State Campus, about a block west of the intersection of Riverside and McKinley. As you approach the museum, you will see several outdoor sculptures including a pair of bronzes by Lila Katzen: "X Notion, Like a J" and "Maxi-Antecedent II" circa 1978. The main entrance to the museum is on the south side (non-street side) and has a small lobby where you can find brochures and a map of the museum. There is also a street side entrance which requires you to climb stairs to enter the museum on the second floor. Due to time constraints and being tired from walking all over campus, I didn't spend enough time to do justice to reviewing all the different rooms. The main floor of the museum starts out with a Sculpture Court with grand staircases that lead up to the upper level. The West end of the main floor has a Special Exhibition room, Native American, Pre-Columbian, African, and Pacific Islands art. The East end of the main floor has Early & Ancient art, South and Southeast Asia, and China & Japan Art. The upper floor has European art surrounding the central sculpture court. To the north of the court, American art progresses from early work on the east to more contemporary work on the west. The wings of the floor have special exhibits, Contemporary Craft, and Decorative Arts. For my visit, I started with the Sculpture Court. Although there aren't many pieces in the court, I was pleased to find a couple joyful pieces by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth from the mid-1920's. Both "Joy of the Waters" and "Crest of the Wave" are water themed pieces that were originally conceived as fountain centerpieces. I moved upstairs to browse the European art. I wasn't personally familiar with the names of most of the artists, but the works that are on display seem quite life like. Many of the painted art pieces were portraits or landscapes. The American art was the most interesting to me since I have been reading about the history of art in America. Early works by Thomas Cole ("Storm King of the Hudson" - 1827), who some consider the "father" of the Hudson River School of Art , and Gilbert Stuart ("Portrait of Anne Eliza Allston" -1805), who was a contemporary of Benjamin West and learned from famed artist Thomas Gainsborough, are on display. One of my favorites on display is Alexander Wyant's "Near Conway, North Wales" (1868). This landscape is remarkably detailed and beautiful. Other paintings by famous artists include John Twachtman's "Waterfall, Greenwich" - 1890, Childe Hassam's "Monmartre" -1889, and "Reflection (Kitty Hughes)" 1917, and Robert Henri's "Jimmie n Blue Jumper" 1920. Artist's with Hoosier ties include William Merritt Chase ("Rest by the Wayside"-1902 and "Portrait of Mme E H Bensel"-1912), T C Steele ("Tennessee Mountain Land"-1899), and John Ottis Adams ("In Poppyland"-1901). I have heard that the museum has quite a few JO Adams paintings, but unfortunately, only one was on display during my visit. This one, also known as "Poppy Field", is from the time he spent living at the Hermitage in Brookville with TC Steele painting the river valley. I also had time to explore some of the craft and contemporary pieces before heading down to the main floor again. There I chose to spend time in the Japan & China exhibit. This section of the museum had more sculpture and ornamental vases than paintings. One of my favorite's is from the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) "Earth Spirits". The pieces, though exaggerated in appearance, seem to embody human personalities in their expressions. The website also has lots of information, including videos of art that has been on display. Pieces from the World's Fair of 1915 (San Francisco) and glass blowing by Dale Chululy show some of the diversity that the museum has. 2021 W Riverside Ave, Muncie, Indiana Open: Mon - Fri 9-4:30; Sat-Sun 1:30 - 4:30 Cost: free Parking: McKinley Avenue Parking Garage $1 (1-3 hours) per hour (cash or credit) Free parking on weekends in the red lot west of the museum Review #264