What an incredible museum!…read more If you know me, you know I have a deep love of historic architecture. Now I've seen my fair share of octagon houses - and often being volunteer-run historic sites or restrictive museums, it isn't too often I get the chance to get a complete top-to-bottom tour. However, we happened to be in the right place at the right time for the Wilcox Octagon House Museum! This place is only open on select Sundays throughout the year, all of which can be found on their website. This place is entirely volunteer-run, and the women we met who gave us a tour of the site were incredibly knowledgeable, not only about the site itself but about the intriguing things going on in the world throughout the house's lifetime. We started on the bottom floor and learned about the structure itself, and all of the changes it went through as it changed ownership from its original builders, the Wilcox's. It was very interesting to see how at one point the house had been turned into a duplex, had a remodeled 1940's kitchen, and the unique and oddly-shaped closets. My favorite fun-fact was that the house was so highly taxed when it was constructed because each room - including the tiny closets throughout the house - was taken into consideration when being taxed. As we moved throughout the house, we were able to see the super-cool wine cellar in the basement, original kitchen, plus the top floor and the gorgeous windowed overlook with an amazing view of the surrounding town of Camillus. The volunteers were very informative and friendly, and understanding of the fact that we were kind of in a rush, only because we had plans to catch a boat ride at another museum a short drive away. I am so grateful that they were incredibly accommodating of us! In short, this was an incredibly cool place to experience, and I absolutely recommend coming here if you happen to be looking for something to do on a lazy sunday. A historic home like this is truly a treasure and it always feels good to support small volunteer-run historical such as this.

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.

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!

Well worth a visit for anyone interested in American history. It was hot but our tour guide Ally…read morewas unflappable, entertaining and gave us a fantastic experience. The history of the house and the Seward family was very interesting and Ally knew about every painting and object our group asked about.

I highly recommend going here and learning about our secretary of state for Abe Lincoln. I like…read morelearning about all the people he met and how he had them sign a picture of themselves up in the upstairs. Very interesting history. I also liked seeing the basement where the kitchen was.

Though the staff was outstanding in every way, particularly our waitress,Beck. The train route…read moreitself was disappointing. The route was straight out of Waterloo. Across Cayuga Lake. And then back again. Along the exact same route.

I am not sure this is really the correct place to put this review. This past weekend the Finger…read moreLakes Railway, in conjunction with the Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, ran a special scenic train excursion from downtown Canandaigua towards Clifton Springs. Nicknamed the "Finger Lakes Limited," it utilized three coaches were were pleasantly restored with comfy seats, ceiling fans for climate control, clean windows, and carpeting throughout. No old, dirty train cars here (though as a train buff, that would have been fine too!). Admittedly, it was in part a fund raiser so the $30 tickets ($45 for the special tickets including the Bar Car beverages) were a bit more than a typical fall train ride. But, as a railfan I appreciated that it went over tracks that I normally wouldn't get to ride on. And, the scenery and small town feel of the places we went was charming in their own way. Beverages and snacks onboard were cheap ($1 a soda, etc.) and the conductors were extremely friendly. By the end, though, I mostly just stuck my head out the window at the end of the car and listened to the train's locomotive as we rolled down the track. I believe the FLRR occasionally runs other passenger trains for special occasions too, but they are pretty rare. That is one reason why I jumped on this one. I can now cross it off my railroad bucket list. The trips sold out too, which is good for everybody involved. Thank you for a great train trip!

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.

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

The Children's Museum in Oswego is fantastic and filled my kids with hours of fun and…read moreentertainment. We arrived on a Monday morning, left for lunch, and returned for more play until the museum closed at 4PM. The museum is technically two stories, although the first floor mainly consists of the admissions desk, a small gift shop, and a water play station. Waterproof smocks or covers would have been nice since my son's shirt did get quite wet. There were boats, fishing rods, and cascading channels of water for various kinds of water play. This was a hit with both of my toddlers. The second floor had much more activities. From large and small foam blocks, Magnatiles, a scarf suction pipe/chute, books, light tables, brite light pegs, and a mini spiral climbing structure, to a dentist's office, pizza and salad restaurant, fire truck, tree house, farmers market, farm, toilet to teach plumbing, aluminum recycling, color wheel, and much more, there was a lot for kids of all ages to explore. There was also a small sectioned-off area for 0-2 infants and pre-walkers. The space hosts birthday parties as well as STEM classes. The staff were lovely. We were given a stamp in our hands before we took a break for lunch so that we could re-enter for free that same day. The only complaint I have is that there was less in the way of offering arts and crafts or even free-form drawing. We did not see any parking lot, but took advantage of free 2-hour street parking. This is definitely a great spot for families with young kids in Oswego.

our family loved this place up until my daughters birthday party we had there, we paid for the most…read moreexpensive birthday party package, they didn't decorate the room with the colors we told them, they never gave us any scents for the slim add on that we paid extra for and they NEVER gave us any goody bags that were apart of the birthday package, we called and complained, it took them a couple days to call us back to tell us we would be getting an $80 refund and that it would take 5 plus days to receive the money and still haven't received it. We paid a ridiculous amount of money and didn't get what we paid for...... Also the pizzas they give you for the party are not actual normal sized pizzas they are slightly bigger than a personal pan pizza. But a lot smaller than a medium sized pizza. Definitely not happy with this place.

We had a great time on our tour at the 1890 house. Our tour guide, Rose was fantastic and very…read moreknowledge about many elements of the house and background of the family who lived a the home prior to it becoming a museum. Definitely recommend this tour.

The house tour was great. We went around Halloween time which added a spooky element. It was…read moreinteresting to learn about Victorian period customs and lifestyles in this region. I highly recommend.

Wow. I 100% recommend this place. Whether you like history or not, go. It's $10 a person and you…read moreget to learn about this HUGE historical home. Every bedroom and all. We even asked to see the basement and they let us even though it isn't part of the tour. Our tour guide was amazing and SO INFORMATIVE! I loved every minute of it. Gorgeous home.

Such a great place to visit! Such nice people full of amazing facts and history! they are very…read morepassionate about the history of Seneca Falls and were so gracious telling us some of the history! Such a gorgeous well preserved house:) it's a must see in Seneca Falls!!