Grounds are lovely. Home is as well maintained as funding allows…read more Please donate to the preservation of this home.

As someone who has loved and cherished Emily Dickinson's poetry my entire life, I hate to leave…read moresuch a bad review, but it was my honest experience. So, they strongly recommend you order your tickets online to make sure there is enough availability, so I did. However, when we got to the museum, they said something along the lines of our tickets being invalid for some reason. We were a party of elderly and disabled people so if something went wrong on their online system or the ticket order wasn't processed correctly we should not be punished. They refused to let us in, but at least we could walk around the grounds for free, and they were truly very lovely; unfortunately, the people who run the museum are not.

This is a two part review…read more The first part is a review of the station museum itself. Chester is home to a railroad station that has been lovingly restored and now houses lots of information, exhibits, and memorabilia about the railroad history of the area. Outside of the station are several boxcars painted for local trains which contain more exhibits and a children's play area. There is also an adjoining caboose which is used as a kitchen for catered events. Also on the property are a tank car, a caboose (more on than below), and a small steam locomotive. As static displays they are okay, but they do add to the experience. There is a yard around the station that is fun for kids to run around on, and across the street is a quarry exhibit. The second part of the review is the caboose which you can rent for $70 or less a night. It is a rustic caboose but contains comfortable padded bunks and screened windows. Stored away are various treasures such as: a small A/C unit; a small space heater; a box fan; camping chairs; desk lamps and extension cords; a writing desk complete with local history books; firewood and cardboard for campfires; a deck of cards; bug spray; beach umbrella; a folding bed extension to turn the bunks into a double bed; WIFI; plates/cups/silverware; etc. There is no guarantee that everything will be here when you stay as some were left behind by previous guests, but the point is that the caboose offers many things to make guests comfortable. A bathroom facilities complete with shower is located in the station building located next door. A barbeque grill is outside. Warning: trains run throughout the day and night, sometimes every hour or two. They are loud enough to wake you, and they cause the caboose to rumble. It is an exciting (or annoying) experience! As a railfan I loved it but can easily understand why it isn't for everybody. This is a small town station in a small town. The caretaker lives nearby and is super friendly. I loved coming here and exploring the area, and staying in the caboose exceeded my already-high expectations. I can't wait to come back!

The only thing worth seeing in this museum was the poison dart frogs. Everything else was…read morereplicas, hardly anything was original except for the gems. It just felt old and not much to see compared to other science museums I've been in. This wasn't really on my list. I wanted to see the Dr. Seuss museum but you had to buy general admission for all the museums in the complex and the ticket booth happened to be located in the science museum.

We came from out of town for a nice stroll though the museums with our toddler but only hit two:…read morethe Science museum and the Dr. Suess museum. Both were well done, though obviously there is nothing else that can compare with the Dr. Suess museum. The Science museum was fun, and I loved the life size dinosaur and the animal exhibits on the ground floor including the dozens of pull-out drawers containing shells, bones, insects, etc. It is a shame part of the lower level was closed for repairs, but what can you do? We tried many of the buttons and exhibits but they either weren't plugged in or didn't work. That was a bit disappointing. We never even saw all of this museum, or much of the other museums included with admission. For $25 if you can see everything it is probably a good deal, but if you only want to go to part of it (or if you or your kid get tired or bored part way) it might not be such a good value.

Longtime visitor, former volunteer. The good- OSV is an…read moreinvaluable historical resource and wealth of information, research, and a breeding ground of historical interpretation methods. If you go to any history or museum conference, you'll find staff and former staff there. They're some of the best in the game, and their staff are unbeatable experts in very niche subjects. Their focus on rural social history was revolutionary when it started and still is revolutionary today. A lot of museums will teach you about political history. Not a lot will teach you about domestic life in OSV's level of detail. For visitors, OSV is sort of a "you get what you want out of it" experience. Some visitors come wanting to talk to interpreters and learn, others want to walk through quickly. Those people don't learn as much. The not so good- management seems more interested in running money laundering charter schools than retaining or paying their excellent staff. I've seen historians who have been interviewed in books and documentaries leave for much less prestigious jobs because it's just not worth it for them to stay. The price- day admission price is really high. I wish more people know there lower cost options. Many regional libraries lend day passes.

We enjoyed several hours walking around old Sturbridge village. We also got to ride on a horse…read morebuggy ride which looped around at a certain part of the town.There were several demonstrations going on around the village and we got to see sheep, goats and pigs. The food at the tavern Cafe was delicious. I'm mentioning specifically the chicken pot pie and new england clam chowder, which we had and was really delicious. The gift shop was worth visiting as well. We brought home a Christmas ornament and some pottery made there.

I found the Eric Carle Museum a bit underwhelming for the price. I also wasn't really sure who the…read moretarget audience was. The museum has two galleries, a paint room, a library, and an auditorium. Personally, I could spend a decent amount of time reading through the gallery exhibits, but younger kids can't really see or reach a lot of them, so I think they'd get bored pretty quickly. There are a few interactive activities like creating your own recipe or using the peg boards but they felt a little gimmicky rather than being a core part of the experience. The paint room was probably the highlight for kids since there were lots of supplies and things to create, but I didn't see anything my son couldn't already do at home. With that said, kids could probably spend an hour or more here so it should definitely keep them busy. That's kind of where the museum confuses me. I thought this was aimed at younger kids but many of the exhibits are better appreciated by adults. At the same time, older kids will probably find the children's activities too basic. It ends up feeling like it's trying to appeal to everyone without fully committing to one audience. Admission should be much cheaper or donation based. If you're visiting the area, check with your local library first because many libraries offer free passes, and that's definitely the way I'd recommend going. Ironically, I think I'd enjoy coming back by myself more than with my kids. I'd take my time going through the galleries and learning about Eric Carle's work. With young kids though, I found myself feeling rushed because they weren't really engaged. I could also see it being a worthwhile visit for aspiring writers, illustrators, or anyone interested in children's literature.

I came here by myself a few weeks ago. I was shocked by how few exhibits there were and now small…read morethey were. I was expecting them to have more on display about his life, artistic process and some of his more famous books. They had a studio and library which would be fun it you brought a child. The overall vibe was charming and very much in the spirit of his books. I just wouldn't go out of my way to go here. The gift shop and info wall about his life was the best part.

I went to Summer Saturday Tea at this house a couple of weeks ago. English black tea was served on…read morethe back porch, with scrumptious desserts available for order and a lovely band playing music. It's a splendid summer experience! I highly recommend stopping in and checking out the calendar - you can see which bands are playing which Summer Saturdays and pick one! I had to get a couple of refills of the tea since the pots were so small, but it was delicious!

Great old house with lots of history and beautiful grounds. Tour guides were very knowledgable and…read moreso helpful. Would highly recommend a visit

Places like this are what make Northampton such a cool town. This gallery shows work by local…read moreartists, with an emphasis on photography, and there is some amazing work to be seen here. The gallery space itself is pretty small so it won't take long to look through everything, so do make sure to pop in.

As a WNBA fan, and lifelong basketball fan, I was blown away by the level of respect the Hall of…read moreFame gives to women athletes. Coming in, I was expecting for the building to focus on predominantly male athletes and get some tidbits of the women's game here and there. Because that's usually how it goes. Instead, I got a pretty large selection of content. In the historical section, which I was most interested in, there were so many artifacts from the women's teams, I could have spent hours there alone. The games and videos and promotional material all highlighted women beyond tokenism too. In most cases, for every highlight of a man, there was a highlight of a woman. Even the little things like the disposable inserts of the frames they were selling at the gift shop- had several women incorporated. And the gift shop wasn't segregated with a WNBA corner like every other basketball store I've ever been in, it was dispersed throughout the store. There was less W merch, but there was still a more meaningful selection than usual. I'd love to see an exhibition for a female player soon the way they have an exhibition for Steph rn. And there was great disability representation. The building itself is accessible with an elevator, spacious aisles, captions on all videos, large bathrooms with the more than one accessible stall. The museum is so impressively interactive, too. I would come back again and again. There are two main floors of content and a third bottom floor that is a basketball court. As a slow museum reader it took me 3 hours to get through. There is a Subway and a nicer tavern restaurant right in the building on either entrance. There is a Pizzeria UNO's in the same plaza as well.

I am a huge NBA fan, so when I arrived to find it located within a strip mall, I was a bit…read moredisappointed. The venue itself was much smaller than I anticipated too. There are basically three floors offering different exhibits/experiences but nothing crazy. The third floor had some nba hand/height comparisons, but honestly you could do some of this at the nba store in nyc. I enjoyed the Kobe exhibit and some of the historical items, but was also confused that they had stuff for people who weren't in the HoF yet (Stephen Curry had an entire exhibit). Also, I expected more than just a wall of names for the actual HoF "hall" area. Overall, cool to look around the exhibit and shoot/dunk hoops at the end, but underwhelming overall. It just seemed like some rich guy's collection of basketball memorabilia. Only worth checking out if you're in the area, but I wouldn't center a trip around it.