Not actually a castle in the classical European sense, but still a grand 20th-century home. Casa Loma in Toronto is the only true castle remaining in North America. The museum in the ornate Beaux-Arts home in Montreal records the life of the wealthy Dufresne family and how the rich lived Read more
A very, very local museum all in French in the heart of Montreal‘s Centre-Sud community is a must-see to learn about how the industrial revolution impacted work conditions and leisure in the city. I can think of no better-suited province than labor-friendly Quebec to interpret the issues of child labor, Read more
Effectively the Trois-Rivières museum of industry, Boréalis is housed inside the former water treatment plant of Canadian International Paper. There used to be four paper plants in the city with the CIP being the last to close. A long long time ago, it was powered by the water that ran Read more
The Montreal Barbie Expo is the largest collection of Barbie dolls in the world. With over a thousand dolls and free admission, this unassuming exposition in a small shopping centre is not to be missed. Apart from the newer Fashionista dolls featuring figurines in wheelchairs and with prosthetic legs, there Read more
Located in the south of Tacoma and just an hour away from Seattle, LeMay’s America’s Car Museum has over 300 classics on display from around the world. The main level has red Alfa Romeos, then you corkscrew your way down three floors before coming back up. The sloped design of Read more
Like the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, the Washington State Museum in Tacoma isn’t in its state capital but it’s not in the largest city Seattle either. If it weren’t for the museums, there would be no reason to visit Tacoma. The museum starts with a quick overview of prehistoric Read more
Admission to the OMSI in Portland is pretty steep at $13 excluding special exhibitions. The main level has a gift shop, auditorium, and a kid-friendly science hall with interactive exhibits in a former power station. The natural sciences gallery upstairs has an excellent display of preserved human embryos from one Read more
The historical society in Portland runs the state’s history museum. Of the three levels, only the top floor is a permanent exhibition on the state’s natural and human history, everything else changes seasonally to keep exhibits fresh. There’s only street parking, so turn up early to grab a good spot. Read more
The museum in Boise interprets the path and impact Basque people have had in the US, mostly in Mexico and California. The museum building was built in 1912 for Juan Cruz Anduiza for Basque shepherds who spent winter in Boise. Large numbers of Basque moved to California in the nineteenth Read more
The state museum is aptly located in the state capital of Boise. It’s a natural history museum on the main level of the state’s varied landscape that includes gorgeous gorges, majestic mountains, curvy canyons, and desolate deserts. Travellers driving north towards Boise on the I-84 would’ve seen the Snake River Read more