I found Skyscape museum while walking in the area and trying to get out of heavy snow. I wasn't…read morefully sure what to expect but I left really happy we got to experience it. Skyscape is a really engaging and a well designed experience. Theres a lot to see and do, with interactive spy style missions that kept both me and my son entertained the entire time! My son was completely locked in the whole time and I was right there pretending I definitely understood the instructions on the first try. It's mostly a hands on experience, you're not just walking through exhibits, you're actually participating, solving challenges and learning as you go. Even better, it didn't feel crowded, which made it comfortable to move through at our own pace. We were able to go back and redo some of the exhibits we enjoyed, which made the experience even more fun the second (and third) time around. Overall, a great mix of entertainment and learning, especially for kids but enjoyable for adults too. 10/10. My son loved every second. I loved pretending I knew what was going on.

We recently visited SPYSCAPE and overall enjoyed the concept and experience, but there were some…read morefrustrations that made the visit less enjoyable than expected. The museum itself is very creative and interactive, and the spy-themed activities are fun and engaging, especially for students and groups. The idea behind the exhibits is fantastic, and when the activities work properly, they are exciting and memorable. However, during our visit there was a very large group present, which made it difficult to fully enjoy the experience. Several of the interactive stations were not working. The phone activity was not functioning at all, and most of the lie detector stations were broken, with only two available for use. This created long wait times and limited opportunities to participate. Additionally, we found the staff interactions to be disappointing. Some staff members spoke to adults in a way that felt condescending, almost as if they were addressing children, which was frustrating and took away from the overall experience. SPYSCAPE has a lot of potential and truly is a unique attraction, but maintaining the equipment and ensuring respectful, professional customer service would make a significant difference. With those improvements, it could easily be an outstanding experience.

Wow what a beautiful place to take the family. This zoo is very well hidden and was near empty when…read morewe visited. You would never know it's there unless you purposely look for it. Free entry but pay to park certain times of the year.

Pros: 1) Great add-on activity pre/post-hike…read more 2) Lots of cute animals that are pretty close-up. 3) Low cost for admission (it's donation based) 4) You can see the staff feeding the animals, if you time it right. Cons: 1) Quite a few of the animal enclosures were closed. 2) The amenities in the zoo and museum look so dated. (Some don't even work) My wife and I gave our donation upon arrival. However, I noticed many, many, many people walk right past the donation box without even care in the world. I get it, money is tight nowadays. However, if we want these sites to look nice we really should pitch in. Just leave a dollar per person, and it will add up. I really enjoyed my time there, and the workers were really friendly. Pro tip: 1) Don't take your pets into the zoo. We saw a lot of these people. 2) Don't blast music on your bluetooth speaker while walking in the park. That's why we invented headphones, papi.

We attended the great Jack o'lantern blaze and it was gorgeous. (Sadly for us, it was drizzling but…read moreit did not ruin the experience fortunately) Very nice display of thousands of carved pumpkins on different teams with great lights effects It was like going back into our childhood. Marvelous. We are lucky we went end of September but, I am afraid it will get pretty crowded during October. A must to see in Sleepy Hollow Country

Gorgeous pumpkin exhibition. I could have stood in the star tunnel all night! Easy to find, park…read moreand move around. I would eat before going, even at 10 pm the lines were very long!

Went to their christmas event. It was super cute they definitely put their heart into it. It was…read moresuper easy to drop off the present to the elfs so your kiddo.got a gift from Santa

My family and I took a ride on the First Gift Express this past weekend and we had a wonderful…read moreexperience. Customers are instructed to bring their own pre-wrapped personalized gifts for Santa to distribute to their children. My wife discreetly passed along our sons' gifts when we arrived. The train station is all decked out with Christmas decorations as well as a model railroad display. While waiting for our train, we all enjoyed some cookies and hot chocolate while watching "The Polar Express". Dressed in our best Christmas pajamas, we all had a fun time riding the train through the rail yard as we spotted all of the various decorations. Our sons were delighted to see the Clauses and were so surprised to receive their first gifts: a model car kit for our older son and an Elmo smartphone for our older son. I myself received a lump of coal from Santa. He was nice enough to exchange it for some edible chocolate coal, under the condition that I get back on the "Nice List" by Christmas.

*** 5,500th review ***…read more I don't know what took me so long to check out the Hudson River Museum. The views, alone, would be reason enough to visit. I was initially drawn to the impressive dollhouse, but there are also so many other cool paintings, sculptures, and photographs here. The museum building itself is very bright and welcoming. Check out the courtyard, too, where there were some lawn games over the summer. We also explored the education center, which seems to have an ongoing activities for kids. Next time I visit, I'll check out the planetarium!

Mark Twain called the late 19th century the "Gilded Age." It saw the creation of a modern…read moreindustrial economy, a national transportation and communication network. In the HBO drama "The Gilded Age," the characters are keenly aware that they live in interesting times, and this establishment was featured as Mrs. Astor's home. Built for millionaire banker John Bond Trevor and his family, Glenview Mansion has been painstakingly restored by the Hudson River Museum, which is a hidden gem located in Yonkers. Guided tours are offered to six fully restored rooms (Great Hall, Sitting Room, Parlor, Dining Room, Ebony Library, and Billiard Room), which my partner and I had the pleasure of today at $20 per adult and can be purchased on their website. Since his primary residence was in NYC, this 19th-century seasonal home was used from April to December each year and sits on a 23-acre estate. The owner commuted into his office on Wall Street in New York City, about 23 miles away. Upon entering the mansion, it showcases late Victorian with the colorful tiles on the floor, the high ceilings, and the furniture and fixtures such as the Tiffany and Co. grandfather clock, a Victorian recliner chair, or the storybook tiles over the fireplace in the Great Hallway. The original home featured a wraparound balcony that could be accessed through the Sitting Room, but it was later removed in order to lower maintenance costs. Besides the mansion, the museum is a complex of galleries that present changing art exhibitions, a permanent Hudson River School collection, a planetarium, an amphitheater, and educational spaces for all ages. The staff was friendly. The interior was very well kept and organized. With great views of the Hudson River, this is a relatively short day trip, which we can recommend.

All Americans - and other nationalities - should visit the historical Woodstock Music Festival Site…read morenear White Lake/Bethel, New York. The history of post WWII America and that of 1960s, which soon followed, is an academic demand for all to understand the political and social movements of the mid-20th century. The Museum at Bethel Woods is impressive and alive. One can actually feel the times via the collections, videos, and the erudite curators that manage this US heritage site. Additionally, do not miss standing on the nearby hillside where a half million of us enjoyed three days of peace and music - and nothing but peace and music. And it was good. Hope more can make the scene and soon... JF of Maryland a Charter Member of Woodstock Nation July 2025

I like to do special places for reviews that end in 50 or 100. The museum is worthy of this review…read more The museum itself is five stars plus, but some of the ways they run it end up taking away three stars.... PROS: The museum itself. It's an amazing place. There are two sets of exhibits. Upstairs, and downstairs. The exhibits tell a wonderful story. There are not a lot of artifacts, but they telll the story through photos, audio, a couple of films, and stories of people who went through the experience. It's a wonderful way of telling the story. We met a docent, who actually attended the festival as a 16 year-old. She lived close by, and her dad actually drove her and her friends to the festival. Well, as close as he could get anyway. Her and her friends had to walk the rest of the way. That's a cool Dad, and she had some great stories After you go through the museum, you can actually go out and overlook the concert site itself. You can just imagine what it must've been like. The price to get into the museum is reasonable, they offer a senior discount, and military/veterans get in for free... CONS: Some of the ways they run the place. While the price to get in is reasonable, don't bother with the gift shop. We saw a T-shirt that had a nice design. However, The T-shirt was thin and the design, you could tell was cheaply made and applied. . They wanted $49 for this T-shirt, and that was after the military/veteran discount. Instead, we went to the Woodstock country store, just outside of the museum grounds, and got much nicer shirts, for quite a bit less money. Another problem is, they don't have an umbrella stand for when it's raining. Some of the floors are stone, and that leaves you with a big slipping hazard. The biggest negative of all is the handicapped accessibility. First of all, there is a circle driveway that you drive into to drop people off. There is handicapped parking as part of this circle driveway. I asked the lady at the box office if we were allowed to use this with our placard, and she said no. I had to grab a wheelchair, go get my partner, wheel her back to the lobby, and then have her wait while I went across the street to park. It turns out we could've parked in that handicapped space after all. She was mistaken. Some of the other ways that the place is not handicapped friendly is first of all, there is no automatic door opener for the handicapped. If you're pushing somebody in a wheelchair, (fortunately, they do offer them for free, ) you have to hope that somebody is nearby to hold the door for you while you push the wheelchair through. The Area outside the entrance to the museum, as well as some of the floors on the inside, are uneven stone. Again, hard to push a wheelchair. Finally, some of the door thresholds, even the one to get into the handicapped bathroom, (which fortunately has a chair for the attendant to sit), are high. It is very hard to push a wheelchair over those thresholds. It's a wonderful museum, it's too bad. It's a bit more challenging for people with disabilities. Somebody needs to do something about it.

Went on the weekend on a Saturday with my grandson and daughter. Don't let the size fool you it was…read morepacked with so many activities. We were there almost 4 hrs! I would come again. Only complaint is that I am in a wheelchair and the ramp going in was not cleared wide enough of the snow and the one part was ice.

What a wonderful children's museum! With many hands-on exhibits and a pretend-play town. Located on…read morethe Poughkeepsie waterfront, it was a great stop for us to cool down and for my kiddo to take a fun break after we did Walkway Over the Hudson. There are two levels: the first floor is geared more toward younger kids and has several play areas including a fire station/fire truck with dress-up costumes, play-pretend market and cafe, a maker studio, a play room with a train track, foam blocks and some structures, and a couple of other exhibits. The second floor is suitable for both younger and older kids and is STEM focused, with exhibits that demonstrate scientific principles in a fun and educational way. My toddler was so excited to explore everything and could have spent hours in here. I'd say it's best suited for kids under 10. The website says up to 12yo but honestly I think the tweens of today would be quickly bored. Admission is $13 whether for kids or adults (under 1 free). The museum wasn't very crowded, and has seating all around for parents to sit and watch while the children played.

I went because of a Groupon. It had expired, but the docents kindly honored it anyway, and I shall…read morestill argue with Groupon about it. The museum itself isn't that big physically, and is in a bunker attached to a working airport. Small plans, and you can see them land and take-off at the end of the museum. Do not go outside without a docent. The museum may be small, but is FULL of artifacts about WWII, Connecticut airplane production, and other wars as well. Items are well marked with explanations, and there are several full sized plans and helicopters. You can't go into them, but you can see inside. There is a restroom for patrons. There's no AC, but several powerful fans.

I'm not really into aviation history, but I saw this place online and thought I'd check it out!…read moreWhat a cool spot! Here's the scoop on this hidden gem: The CT Air & Space Center is located right next to the Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford (if you go out the back door of the museum building, you'll actually be on the airport property). Free parking is available in the lot in front of the building. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for veterans, and $5 for children 6-12. The museum is currently only open Saturdays and Sundays 10AM-4PM. The museum itself is fairly small, but there's a lot to see! Inside you'll find vintage aircraft and airplane memorabilia and artifacts related to CT's aviation history. The main display piece is a restored Corsair fighter plane, and they also have a few military helicopters. There are additional planes and a larger helicopter outside, you just need to ask a staff member to accompany you, as it is a working airport. You're even allowed to sit in the cockpit of one of the planes, the 1973 Cessna 150 that says "Conn Motor Club" on the side. The museum is staffed entirely by volunteers who are all very friendly and knowledgeable. I'd recommend asking one of the staff members to show you around, so they can tell you the history behind the different aircrafts. One of the most interesting things I learned was about Gustave Whitehead of Bridgeport, CT, who, according to some evidence, flew an aircraft in 1901 and 1902, which would have predated the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903. While small, the museum is currently working to restore the 1929 Curtiss Flying School Hangar (located right next to the current building), and this would allow for the museum to expand and have more room to display their aircrafts. Overall a very cool and interesting place, stop by and help support them in preserving CT's aviation history!