Grand Rapids was my bonus level in Michigan. I had only planned to visit Flint, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Lansing on the trip, but efficiency won the day. Former president Gerald Ford was born and grew up in Grand Rapids, his presidential library and grave site has price space on Read more…
Pier 21 in Halifax is what Staten Island was to New York—the first port of entry for many migrants in the 19th and early 20th century. The special exhibition on German-Canadian relations was told through a series of photographs depicting German immigrants to eastern Canada and Canadians occupying West Germany Read more…
Instead of being a giant Greek Revival building full of dead exhibits, Halifax‘s Museum of Natural History comes alive with staff introducing visitors to live specimens of non-native animals. I also appreciated the prehistoric exhibit told through the lens of Nova Scotia’s indigenous people. Reptiles are cheap to buy and Read more…
The Lehigh Valley Heritage Center is the history museum and artifact archive of the coal mining, steel smelting, and war loving region in the Great Appalachian Valley. The coal was used to power ships, the steel used to build ships, and men sent to operate the ships. The ships were Read more…
Scranton had a trolley system from 1896 to 1954, the first economically sustainable system in America. The Lackawanna valley was rich in anthracite, top-notch coal, and the trolleys were powered from the nearby coal-fired power plant via a third rail, unusual for interurbans. But one line, the Northern Electric Railway, Read more…
When travelling to Munich, the Bavarian National Museum is one not to miss out on. The Museum building itself was built during King Maximilian II in 1855, around the same time the Neuschwanstein Castle was built (the castle used as inspiration for the one in Disneyland). The interior of the Read more…
The Montreal Museum of Fine arts was first founded in 1860 as the Art Association of Montreal. It is the oldest art museum in Canada. However, it didn’t have its own building until a site was donated to them in 1879. The museum was at its current site since 1912 Read more…
Best described as a giant building with galleries of multiple units and outdoor aircraft hangers, the complex contains the museums of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Calgary Highlander, King’s Own Calgary Regiment, Lord Strathcona’s Horse, Army Museum of Alberta, Naval Museum of Alberta, and Air Force Museum of Alberta. Why Read more…
I had a moment of reflection when I approached the village plaza. People in North America rebuild what they used to have miles and miles away so they can drive there to enjoy a nice walkable environment. In Europe, those environments were just the town. Gasoline Alley is the biggest Read more…
Edmonton‘s Royal Alberta Museum is world-class, but I fault them for not offering student pricing or honoring nationally-recognized cultural volunteers. While the quality of their exhibits is top-notch, their choice of display items is questionable. For example, there were fish in the bug gallery and the transportation exhibit failed to Read more…