How Many Museums?

We are planning a little New York City staycation in November. And I was pondering over which museums to visit when H asked 'how many museums have we been too?' I didn't know. A decent amount I would think. I know there are a couple we have done more than once. So that got me going back as far as 2008. M and I had been married one year and that's when not only did we start travelling but that's also how far back I have pictures from.. I barely have any pictures from before then. I digress but I do hope to be able to visit my parents home (back in Pakistan) in the not too distant future and I want to go through all our childhood pictures and scan them.

Any.. we were talking museums. I am not adding botanical garden, zoo's and aquariums to this list. 

1. De Cordova Sculpture Park, Massachusetts

We went on a fall leaf peeping trip all the way up to Maine.. pre blogging unfortunately so don't remember all the details but M was very skeptical about a sculpture park and set aside only an hour for it. We spent way more than an hour. 

2. Lourve, Paris

Before we started planning to have D we thought we'd go on a great European adventure. 8 cities in I think it was 16-17 days. Looking back it sounds insane. I wish I had kept a better record of the trip.. it was an adventure for sure. The Lourve was an obvious choice on our list of to do's.

3. Rodin Museum, Paris

We also visited the Rodin Museum while in Paris. I don't know if Les Invalids or the Palace of Versailles would count as museums per se, so I am not including them in this list. We had run all across Paris checking off boxes. Next time we go to Paris I just want to stroll the streets ala Midnight in Paris and run around less. 

4. The Vatican Museums, Vatican City

Can we even remember a time before selfies existed? M had a blackberry and we had navigated all of Rome via a map! Angles and Demon's was the IT book of the year and M had read it on the plane and insisted we visit all the sights mentioned in the book. 

5. Farmer's Museum, Cooperstown, NY

We didn't travel anywhere all of 2010.. D was born that summer. Here D is a couple months shy of turning one and we had attempted our first very low key trip upstate. There we visited a very quaint and charming Farmer's Museum.

6. Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia

We have been to the Please Touch Museum twice. Once when D was little and then again when H was little. I love this museum. It is absolutely adorable. 

7. Smithsonian Natural History Museum, DC

I love the museums in DC. We have been to the Natural History one twice. Once when D was two I think and again just a couple of months before we went into lockdown.

8.  Air Space Museum, DC

We've been to the Air Space Museum three times! It never gets old does it? And the fact that all the museums are free is awesome. 

9. Natural History Museum, NYC

This was a solo trip I had made with D to the city. It's crazy that we have been to the DC museum that many times but the New York museum's just an hour away we ignore. Hence the little staycation in November. This reminds we that M and I have also been to MOMA pre kids but I don't have any pictures.. and we all know, if you don't have any pictures then did it really happen? 

10. Liberty Science Center, New Jersey

We have been to the Liberty Science Center twice as well.. There are so many things we have done before H was born or when he was too young to remember that we have to do them again. But LSC is a great museum.. so many hands on activities for the kids.

11. ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark

It was a cool museum.. especially the Rainbow Panorama Window. You can see a time lapse video I made of it here. But both the museum and Aarhus itself were not worth the drive all the way from Copenhagen. May be if he had spent a night there we would have felt less hurried. 

12. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark

We had planned a visit to Frederiksborg Castle and Gardens and then had stopped at this museum on the way back to Copenhagen. The museum was very close to the water.. its garden was right on the edge of the water in fact. It was a lovely place. 

13. Hamilton Sculpture Garden, New Jersey

This is another favorite of mine. But we have only been here once. I keep planning and intending to go but things never work out and with it being so close to home it gets pushed to the back burner. 

14. The British Museum, London

This was our last great big adventure, the summer of 2019 before Covid hit and we haven't had a big adventure like this since. So we look back at this trip with a great fondness. The museum was nice too.

15. Tate Modern, London

I am not a huge modern art fan. Neither is M. But that doesn't stop us from visiting modern art museums. We're weird that way. Sometimes art surprises us. Even though it was not too long ago.. I don't not remember my feelings towards Tate. I remember a few interesting pieces.. but mostly because I have a picture of them. It was a huge museum, that I do remember. 

16. Karel Zeman Museum, Prague

We had a couple of extra hours to kill while we were in Prague. This museum happened to be just around the corner from our hotel so we popped in. Karel Zeman was one of the most significant Czech directors, screenwriters and fine artists, renowned for his special effects. It was a cool little museum.   

17. Children's Museum Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

The Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna had it's very own children's museum. It was a delightful space. How awesome it this picture! 

18. National Railway Museum, York

 

This was a great big museum.. had so many many types of trains to explore. Its a train lovers dream come true. H had bought a little train souvenir from the gift shop which he then accidentally left in our Isle of Skye BnB. He was devastated. 

19. Sciencenter, Ithica, NY

We were visiting Watkins Glen on 4th of July weekend and decided to check out the Sciencenter before we headed back home. I am always in awe of interactive children's museums. We never experienced such things growing up. 

20. Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY

This I guess was the last museum we visited. On our way back from Lake Canandaigua we were going to be passing through Corning. The glass museum had raving reviews. We were skeptical but so thankful we went. We spent way more time there than we had expected. 

What have been your favorite museums? 

Any New York museum you are especially fond of? 

I want to go to the Van Gogh immersive experience but I just just checked and they are sold out for the days we are going :(  I have heard about ARTECHOUSE as well as Arcadia Earth which are both immersive experiences, I should probably check their availability as well. And then do a second regular museum. Museum of Natural History is the obvious choice. There are just too many cool museums to choose from. 

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