A MUST see for anyone interested in local history, early American bicycling, early American…read moremotorcycles, as well as early aviation and naval aviation history. There's is so much packed into this big, dark block of a building, its amazing. There is a one hour movie that really is a well made, must see...preferably before exploring the exhibition. Curtiss was involved in so many different things during stages in his relatively short life, and the museum gives substantial display area to each and all of his interests. Very well worth the entry fee.

The age of innovation when the Industrial Revolution pushed the boundaries an me like Glee. H…read more Curtiss dreamed big and literally reached for the stars. From humble beginnings to legendary flight we learn about one of Hammondsport's most famous resident. It is well worth the stop to see the collection and history. Our family found it interesting from each of their perspectives. My favorite is the restoration of a 1943 Curtiss P-40 E "War Hawk". I purposely didn't take pictures as the experience is well worth seeing for yourself.

A fun afternoon on a cold day. Self guided tour was nice. A lot of really cool hands on exhibits…read more The old winery casks in the lower level we're a real eye catcher. Learned a lot from the introduction video. Will definitely come again.

You might think boats are dull, you're wrong. The finger lakes has such a rich history of private…read morecraftsmen it's astounding. A map shows the location of all the boatmakers, it's astounding! The museum costs less than $10 for a adults and it's definitely worth it. We went on a Monday and there were almost a dozen workers and volunteers building wooden boats. The woodshop is open for visitors to walk through, ask questions, and touch materials of new boats. There are new boats made from traditional methods and restoration projects going on. One restoration project has old materials when possible, but new wood is being used when original materials weren't holding up. It's excellent to see old fashioned methods preserved and appreciated! You enter this three story museum on the top floor, boats are on the top and middle floors. The museum used to be a winery. Evidence of the winery, including 1000 gallon wine barrels, are on the bottom floor. This is a great place to visit in the hot summer months because it's so comfortably chilly in the wine cellar. They take credit cards and membership starts at less than $30.

While a small museum, the Museum Of The Earth packs in a lot of exhibits and information. It's an…read moreimmersive experience at times as well with full rooms decked out with artifacts or fun interactive displays. For those in the Ithaca/Cayuga area, it's worth a stop in for an hour or so of your time.

This is an excellent indoor activity for children and adults. The cashier also informed us of the…read moremilitary discount. My husband is a navy veteran and the family receives 50% off admission. So many interactive exhibits. Visually exciting and made learning fun for my daughters on a rainy day.

Absolutely amazing experience…read more The meteorite piece near the entrance completely blew me away. Seeing glass connected to space stopped me in my tracks. It felt both scientific and magical at the same time. The industrial glass exhibits were fascinating (glass shapes so much of our everyday life), and the live glassblowing demos were mesmerizing. The kids were completely locked in & now we may need to introduce them to Blown Away. It's incredibly family-friendly. The LEGO building area and magnet play space were perfect hands-on breaks for the kids. And the café? So good. Ramen, Monte Cristo (omg), mousse cake (highly recommend), IPA, and pizza slices for the kids. All fresh and surprisingly elevated for museum dining. Educational, interactive, beautiful, and fun & absolutely worth the drive. Bonus: Kids are free & admission is good for two days! We'll definitely be back.

Recently took a sand blasting class. You begin with picking…read moreout a glass and then decorating it with stickers. The selection of stickers was large. After that you place your glass in the sand blasting machine. Put your gloves on and spray the glass all around. Take out and wash. It was a fun experience and organized class

I went at the last day, and glad I did. It was a memorable…read moreexperience to be surrounded by the painting in motion during part of the exhibit. An immersing experience. I like the set up of the exhibit. The First part was informative more intimate with the correspondence between the brothers. The second part was a cascade of visions that started high up and came down toward your feet, creating the illusion of being swept by the art work. The third part, was the one that I experienced a number of times. Once, was not enough to grasp the emotions of the scenes being projected on the walls, the floors, the columns. A brilliant idea to explore different artists.

There's not many things I'd leave the house for in a snowstorm, but I really wanted to see this! I…read morehave been in love with Starry Night since the Boy Meets World episode, and it's one of those things that has just stuck with me. I was able to go to the preview night, thanks to Yelp. This really was not what I expected. I thought there would be several rooms we went into. It's just 3 rooms. In all honestly, I skipped through the first one. Reading a bunch of stuff is not my thing. :) The waterfall room was really cool. It was on a 5 minute loop. I stayed a few minutes. It was mostly the same. And I didn't realize there was only one other room either. The main room was really cool, but I think it would have been better if they had done a few smaller themed rooms or something like that. It was really cool and I have no idea how they do things like that. But it sat on some things a really long time that wasn't really needed IMO, then rushed through stuff that was really great, like Starry Night for me. The pictures would blink and do subtle things sometimes, but I felt those things slowed the show down. I stayed in that room the entire time to make sure I didn't miss any. Some of it was hard to tell if I'd already seen it. And a few parts gave me motion sickness. When the houses melted down, I felt like I was sinking and I knew I needed to sit down! Lol. There were benches there to sit on. The gift shop was right outside the room. There were several things I liked, but they were very pricey IMO. A $20 coffee mug was a lot, I think. It wasn't even 3D. The 3D prints were very cool, and a few other things. I was there for about an hour, and I watched the show on the big room the whole way through to be sure I didn't miss anything. Also, be sure to check the concession stand because I missed a beer sampling!

If you're a fan of the Christmas classic film, you will love the It's a Wonderful Life Museum in…read moreSeneca Falls. Having seen the movie many times, I was overjoyed to visit the museum, which contains a treasure trove of unique photos and artifacts related to the movie. While many of the items are replicas not used in the actual film, it's still a perfect place for fans of the movie to kill a bit of time perusing pictures of the cast members, some of which who visit the museum annually for events. Admission is a modest $5 donation, and they have a cute gift shop with items for purchase. Staff on site at the museum cannot have been any friendlier, and were willing to let us stay a few minutes even past the closing time as we had arrived shortly before they closed for the day. There is a perfect photo op spot to commemorate your bisit to "Bedford Falls." This particular museum is located in a temporary spot through 2026 while the original permanent museum is undergoing major construction and expansion. While I'm sure the permanent museum complete with theater.would be a perfect 5 out 5 rating from me, this temporary museum space was still a very enjoyable experience for me. If you are a fan of It's a Wonderful Life, make it a point to visit this museum in Seneca Falls. There is a bridge in town which served as inspiration for the bridge scene in the movie.

Was dying to visit this spot--this is a favorite movie, special to my family--as I I know it is to…read moremany--and certainly deserving of its esteem and lore, IMHO. The museum itself is a small spot that is chock full of great photos and interesting stories about the movie and its cast, many of which were new to me. I learned some interesting tidbits and could definitely feel the care and appreciation with which the museum is curated. It is, though, very small, and surprisingly lacking in actual memorabilia--as explained up front, only 5 known movie props exist, most with private collectors. Perhaps unfair, but I guess I was expecting something a bit more. Still and all, worth a visit if you are visiting scenic Seneca Falls and the amazing Women's History National Park nearby. Make sure to walk over to the nearby bridge after your museum visit, which is definitely a convincing piece of this town's claim to be the "real" Bedford Falls.

I absolutely loved Sonnenberg! The conservatory and gardens…read morewere beyond amazing. I really enjoyed walking through and taking in all of the beauty. They even have a section in the greenhouse with plants for sale. The mansion is of course just as great to walk through and take a little escape back in time. So many beautiful things and views. They do have a little cafe and gift shop/winery on the grounds. I highly recommend coming here if you get the chance!

It's a nice peaceful attraction to stroll the gardens and check out the mansion. There were binders…read moreof photos in the mansion to see what different rooms used to look like. Rooms were set up well with interesting garments and objects. You can look at some pretty closely. Some parts of the property remain dilapidated, like the pool. Some of the gardens weren't available for viewing. For example, we didn't see anything in the pansy garden area.

Wohoooo! The sites are huge nice.very beautiful area.we also spent some time walking on the road…read moreways.this used to be WWII naval basic training station.the camp ground was quiet .overall its amazing place to visit and spent some quality time.and do take a tour of military museum that's absolutely free . Highly recommended

This is absolutely a great destination if your into military history or just like looking at…read morebeautiful lakes in the Finger Lakes Region. Here's a very interesting article from the Seneca County Historian that pretty much explains the history of Sampson Naval Training Center, Sampson Navy Memorial Museum and Sampson Air Force Training Center. http://www.fltimes.com/lifestyle/way-back-when-in-seneca-county-a-history-of-sampson/article_26e665fe-a777-11e6-9eda-b76372f694fb.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share

Reliving childhood memories and making new ones with the whole family…read more The Strong National Museum of Play is the ultimate place for interactive play with over 282,000 sq ft of fun exhibits. Smaller kids were able to immerse in the toy Grocery Store, Reading Adventureland pirate mail, and Sesame Street exhibits on the 1st floor. There were neat areas including the Pinball Playfield and outdoor Field of Play with a D&D dragon statue and Monopoly for photo-ops on a nice day. The Hulk strength and Spider-Man city climb exhibits in the Comic Book Hero area were also fun. On the 2nd floor, the Digital Worlds and Video Game Hall of Fame featured many classic and independent video games that kept us entertained on various consoles. We also had plenty of fun in the Level Up area, especially with the interactive stealth zone and wall toss games. These were all included in the admission price but my personal favorite were the arcades at $1 per 5 tokens and featured Mario Cart and Halo plus many more games from the past four decades. We literally visited three days in a row here to experience the many parts of the museum for multiple days of play. With added admission, we also worked up a sweat on the Skyline Climb rope course and zipline above the atrium. It was well-designed with a safety rail & traffic light system that made it suitable for young kids. The site has a rainbow parking garage with 6 parking entries included in each annual family membership. Skip it or hit it? We had such a fun time that we'll definitely revisit in the future. Good thing it's only 3 hours drive from Toronto.

This is a trip down memory lane!…read more This museum is not just for children. It's for that little kid inside you that was once naive, joyful, and full of imagination. There are many play areas for kids of all ages, a Wegman's grocery store, a giant working Simon, outdoor space for bubbles, giant sized Monopoly, a giant Chutes and Ladders, a huge Donkey Kong game, plenty of pinball and arcade machines. This year they added an indoor 9 hole mini golf course as well. The part that always leaves me in awe is the massive collection of old toys and video gaming systems. A great trip down memory lane always.

Our busload had a great stop at Rose Hill. The house is full of history and witnessed many changes…read morein the Seneca Lake region starting back in the days of slavery. Our tour guides divided us into groups so we wouldn't collide and took us thru the mansion, museum, store and movie. The only unavoidable problem is that there was no air conditioning in the 19th century and still none today!

From the owner: Rose Hill Mansion overlooks Seneca Lake and is open seasonally for guided tours. At the Greek…read moreRevival house visitors learn about the Swan family who lived there for forty years and used innovative methods to farm the land. Exhibits highlight the many people who lived and worked on the Rose Hill property. A restored 1916 Model T that belonged to a descendant of the Swan family is also on display. The Carriage House Gift Shop carries historically-inspired and locally made items, as well as souvenirs, history books, jewelry, and home decorative items. The grounds are open year-round. Guided tours, May 1-October 31. Closed July 4. Rose Hill Mansion is owned and operated by Historic Geneva, formerly the Geneva Historical Society. Historic Geneva specializes in telling Geneva's stories at our three properties and online.