You cannot and should not spend a week in Laurel without stopping by the Laurel Museum. The hours…read moreare limited to a few days a week for a few hours at a time, but the museum, located in a refurbished historic house in the heart of Laurel's historic district, should not be missed. They feature one exhibit at a time in the main exhibition area (currently one on the Laurel Leader newspaper, the last one was based off of the popular local Lost Laurel blog) and downstairs have a children's educational play area and a gift shop. The workers are always incredibly knowledgeable on the exhibits and full of tons of Laurel tidbits. The museum won't just be appreciated by Laurel residents or former residents, it's great for anyone interested in history and how small towns have continued to evolve and thrive throughout the changing landscape of our nation. (whew, apologies for that dramatic sentence) Either way, the Laurel Museum deserves your patronage. Add it to your next walk down Main Street :)

Such a charming museum- has a kids area for hands-on activities, as well as historic exhibits…read more Admission is free. Museum staff is really nice!

I've lived in the Baltimore area for quite some time now and I can't believe I've never been to the…read moreAmerican Visionary Art Museum. I mean how can you pass by the mirrored egg or the golden hand and not think to find out what type of dope art is hidden inside. With so many unique pieces to look at I took my time leisurely strolling through the two buildings for the museum. Welcomed by a half naked mannequin with wings floating in the center of the stairs, you can't help but be intrigued to learn more about the artists work. There was so much to take in with every turn. I especially liked the homage to the staples of Baltimore's culture in the second building. And we can't forget about the gift shop that I literally could've spent hours in just rummaging through all the eclectic finds. I'm happy I finally bit the bullet to visit the American Visionary Art Musuem, and I look forward to a return visit to see all the things I missed.

I do not like art museums. I was done with The Louvre after an hour. The Met was nice for like 45…read moreminutes. I stayed at the AVAM for THREE (3) hours & only left because I was starving. I loved every single thing about this museum. The gift shop is fun, yes, but the art displays are all entirely unexpected & featuring mainly artists who are disabled/not professionals. There is art made from metal scraps, a ship built out of toothpicks, sculptures made by patients at a mental health institution. The passages to read about the pieces were delightfully detailed. It felt like ingesting the life story of dozens of strangers who turned to art at their darkest moments. Cannot recommend this museum enough. Also, the staff were so lovely. They genuinely cared about our experience too.

It's truly magical for kids to use their imagination. Giants Big bed to jump on, space station,…read more and so much more. Go with an open mind to explore this imaginative space

Summary: while Doodlehatch is definitely not short of character, there are some key points that…read moremake it hard to love. A question I had prior to visiting Doodlehatch was "what is it?" The best answer I can think of is that it's an interactive art museum. There are tons of random sections throughout: a space area, a unicorn area, a tea party area, a giant bed, etc. Most are designed to be "interactive," but I don't know how much care + maintenance is going on. Parts of the exhibit don't feel sturdy and a lot of it doesn't feel clean. There are a lot of areas that have fabric that retain moisture/dirt like the giant bed (plush), bean bag chairs, and hammocks. Coming off a fresh pandemic, it didn't give the best feeling to "interact" with something like that. Conclusion: I think the concept is cute and the art is unique. The exhibit itself makes for a cute little outing. I'm just a bit more wishful as far as care/maintenance goes. I wouldn't describe myself as a germaphobe, but even so I didn't feel great about it.

WHAT A TREAT, to have caught the entire Amy Sherald exhibit and BAM! I loved this museum, and this…read moreexhibit specifically! My college campus and myself took a trip here for this, and 5/5 would recommend! So enlightening, so thought-provoking, so CHROME. ;) I'm also especially thankful for the guides that walked our group through Amy's pieces, who then were able to describe and confirm the emotions and response she wanted her audience to receive! Love love love this museum, and thank you to my campus for coordinating this.

My very first visit to the BMA will definitely not be the last. The collection in the museum is…read morehuge! It's definitely a great way to spend your day. I came here specifically for the Amy Sherald collection and was not disappointed. There is plenty of street parking and it doesn't cost much. They also have parking lots in case street parking is hard to find (I'm pretty sure it's hard to find street parking during weekdays because its in the JHU area). Check in was super easy. I was lucky enough to secure a free Thursday ticket, otherwise, there is an admission fee for the exhibit. Finding it was super easy because the staff gave great directions. It was crowded but the flow of the space made it not so overwhelming. All of her paintings were beautiful and meaningful. I loved that they included information about the pieces, what made her choose certain colors, how she chose what height the paintings should be placed and a short video of how she started her career and her process of creating. After leaving her exhibit, I wandered off to see other portions of the museum. The collections were beautiful. I didn't get to see everything because it was getting late but I look forward to visiting again soon.

Although small, this charming museum has some wonderful artifacts and is run by the most amazing…read morewoman, Ms. Ligon. She gave us a tour and told us amazing stories about everything, and it was free! Highly recommend. There is also a jazz section I really liked.

This was truly a breathtaking experience. The owner/presenter was very knowledgeable. There is no…read morefee to enter but you'll walk away with priceless information. There is a lot of valuable information to be discovered here. I highly recommend you visit here.

I really liked the museum. I didn't know it was even near me and now I've been here a couple of…read moretimes. The building looks weird, but Barb the expert history lady said it was a WW1 era telegraph station and was build to the size of the macro-exhibits on permanent display. (Hello Girls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Girls). The artifacts were amazing. There were two WW1 tanks: FT-17 Renault that saw extensive combat, a very rare Mark VIII and another WW2 tank inside. Things for kids to do and a great history lesson if Barb is there. Obviously, I'll be back

Museum was not open at 3pm on a Tuesday. Very limited hours. The exterior was worn down,…read moreunappealing and overgrown. The macro artifacts were rusted and not well maintained. Signage and labels were not existent or hard to read. How disappointing. Not what I'd expect from an Army Museum and not sure we will come back when they are open.

If you haven't been to Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center, aka the National Air & Space Museum right next…read moreto Dulles Airport, go!! It will NOT disappoint. First off...the museum offers free extra large storage lockers, large enough to fit a large rolling suitcase, so it's a super cool spot to check out before heading to the airport. And the displays! The Challenger Space Shuttle is always one of my favorites. You can't fully appreciate the size until you stand under and walk around it. Displays range from history of rockets to air balloons, early winged aircraft, military planes, commercial flight (there's a Concord on display), small aircraft and satellites. So much to take in!! The displays do change, so there's always something new to see when we've gone thru. All the docents are super friendly and engaging and they have several small interactive displays to help stoke the interest in air & space for the youngins as well!

Amazing! Incredible! These just scratch the surface of what you can experience at this museum…read more Having been to the National Air & Space Museum in the past, I remember when this extension opened near IAD. The big draw at the time, the Space Shuttle Columbia and a Skunkworks SR-71. Both highly impressive, more on that later. We arrived on a Monday just after it opened at 10am. It was like Romper Room with all the unruly kids blocking the entrance and cause a disturbance. Sadly the chaperones didn't seem to care. No entry fee to visit the center, there's even a free bus of you have an extended layover in IAD, but parking is $15. Still well worth the cost without the crowds in DC visiting the other museums. There are some great exhibitions! Lots of aircraft from a SPAD to a JSF. It was neat to see some private aviation aircraft along with lighter than air and aerobatics. The commercial side of aviation was a bit lacking. Yes, the Concorde is very impressive but neurons that and a Dash-80, annotation seemed to end about 1995. The space exhibitions were excellent. The Columbia was highly impressive to walk around and take in this has been to spaces numerous times and the first shuttle in space. Satellites, modern mission equipment, like Mars explorers AB's various heavy boosters. Was neat to see equipment from the early years of NASA, Mercury, Gemini and the legends who made history. The Vietnam and Korean displays were some of the best from MiGs to F-14s to the JSF. Really awesome to get up close and personal with these aircraft AB's pilots who flew them. The SR-71 is attire the display in the middle of the center with lots of information on its, little more than hour flight time from LAX to IAD. Just so much to see. But something you can do in a few hours, or all day off you want to read AB's experience all there is. Not as overwhelming as the Air & Space Museum but still highly impressive from young kids to aviation enthusiasts and everyone in between. Highly recommend this stop!

Very nice little but packed museum in Lutherville! I loved learning about the history of fire…read morerescue and all the tools, gadgets and trucks they used to use. The museum also gave insight into how the fire men used to live at the stations. Very interesting stuff. They also give you a free poster! Recommend!

WOW What an experience this has to be one of the best fire apparatus collections I've been to. You…read morecan tell they take great pride in the museum!!!

How have I not reviewed my favorite place in Harper's Ferry WV!? We first visited in 2023 and so…read moretoday when we were pleasantly surprised to find them open on Monday we had to enjoy the museum again. Just so you're aware the museum is up for sale and it's future is uncertain. Because of that the hours can vary from what you see posted. Due to the uncertainty of its future it is more important than ever to visit and support this historic marvel. Opened back in 1961 the wax figures are extremely life like and tell the entire story of John Brown's life and then the culmination at John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry that resulted finally in his death by hanging after the botched raid. I feel grateful to have visited a couple times and I really hope once it's sold that the new owners continue to operate it as a wax museum. This type of attraction has become increasingly rare and should be celebrated.

My fiancé and I visited Harpers Ferry for my birthday and we weren't planning on going here but we…read morejust kinda went in for the heck of it. When we came in we were greeted by the person working at the front desk, they were so nice! We had a good time chatting with them before and after walking through. We paid i think $5 each for the both of us. You could either pay the cash or choose a little something to buy. We both already knew the history of John Brown but it was still so much fun and felt so nostalgic to see the wax figures and listening to the audio narrations with a push of a button. Walking through the building was really neat, it felt like it was going to be never ending. There were signs saying the building is up for sale.. i'm worried for the fate of the museum. I'm glad we were able to explore it!