Wow. What a unique, random gem and historic property. What is Fonthill and why is there a castle in…read moreDoylestown, Pennsylvania? Fonthill Castle was the home of archeologist and tile maker Henry Chapman Mercer. (Also in Doylestown are two more Mercer buildings you can tour - the Mercer Museum and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works building, the business Mercer ran and where most of the tiles in the castle were produced.) Henry Mercer seems like he was an interesting guy, and you can see that in his home - 44 rooms, 18 fireplaces, 200 windows, who knows how many staircases...! And designed and decorated in a way I've never seen anywhere else. The castle is an early example of poured-in-place concrete building and is a mix of Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles. And there are, of course, Moravia tiles (and some historic and international tiles that he collected during his life) throughout the house - almost more than you could imagine. We visited last Saturday to experience their "Fonthill Castle Holiday Lights Meander Experience," which allows you to visit the castle through a self-guided experience (there were staff in various rooms who were happy to answer questions) and enjoy a series of Christmas trees on display throughout the home. I definitely enjoyed the experience but am definitely planning a return visit to see the castle in better light (not at night in the dark - which was perfect for the Christmas tree experience) - they offer 60-minute guided tours though the house for most of the year! The castle is pretty wild, and I look forward to visiting it again and experiencing it in a new way. If you are interested in architecture, art, crafts, the Arts and Crafts design movement, or just quirky, unusual places, definitely add Fonthill to your list and check it out!

Amazing property, it is a hidden gem. Went with my family for the tour and everyone enjoyed it!read more

The Allentown Art Museum is a fantastic place to spend and hour or two. The permanent collection is…read morevaried with lots of types of art to look at and enjoy, and the rotating exhibits keep your visits fresh and interesting if you're a repeat customer. I say "customer" but it's actually free to visit which is amazing and a great way to encourage the community to immerse themselves in art. There's a fun children's room too on the second floor to keep kids active if wandering the exhibit rooms isn't for them. The staff is friendly and welcoming and the giftshop has all kinds of unique items that you'd expect to find in a museum giftshop. I try to stop in anytime I'm in Allentown...it's an artistic oasis in the city.

Free thanks to a large donation and we appreciate that it is. The staff is super welcoming and…read moretells you what you need to know about the different exhibits. They have an entire Tiffany glass exhibit and every 30 minutes they change the lights to mirror the effects of the sun setting and rising. There are a few different exhibits, but the Tiffany glass was the one that stood out the most. A great little stop to check out when in the Lehigh Valley.

I have family in Easton and visit frequently. Over the years, I learned that many people don't know…read morethis place even exists. If you are in the area and have never been there, it would be worth your while to take an hour or so for a tour of the Sigal Museum. The Sigal Museum opened a few years ago on Northampton Street, replacing the old Northampton County Historical Society Museum. They still own their old building which is in great need of repair. So, enter the Sigals. This was their old department store which closed several years ago. They donated it to the Historical Society and converted it into a museum. I've actually been there a number of times and never wrote a review. So, I'll cover a few things here. First, they have a regular exhibit on the second floor which includes many items from the area going back to Native Americans. The people who remain from the local tribe donated a number of very interesting items which are on display along with historical items from Revolutionary War times to the present. Since the Just Born Company (Peeps, etc.) is nearby, the basement used to have a permanent exhibit of their history. I recall fondly walking through it but it is no longer there. Speaking with the Director of the Museum I learned they are putting an interactive exhibit there. It will include sights, sounds, smells, etc., of leaving a boat on the canal. With the Crayola Museum just a few doors down, I hope this will increase their traffic. There really is a lot to see. And, this sounds like something a family would enjoy. They always have some temporary exhibit with fascinating items. I've seen exhibits on race, early American Portraits (they have a wonderful collection of them), clothing including a wedding dress exhibit, and this time they had an exhibit of Easton at the turn of the 20th century. The Docent really knew his stuff explaining a lot more than what was on the signs. They also have a wonderful gift shop - good prices and they always have some very unique items. I'm not a big shopper when it comes to curios, but I can't think of a time at the museum I haven't found something to get. Sorry, no pictures. I wasn't really comfortable taking photos in a museum although I could have asked.

My Yelp buddy Aaron T. has this place explained nicely so I'm only going to add in a few thoughts:…read more * Hours are 10-4 daily except for Monday from June 1st until Labor Day. The rest of the year it's 10-4 daily except for Monday & Tuesday. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children. Based on the price is it worth coming? That's a tough one as my review is a bit jaded since our tickets were freebies from an elected official in the PA Senate. * The basement still has the Just Born display and quite honestly it's not all that interesting. It's just a few display boards about the history of the company although the video regarding how a Peep is made is interesting since Just Born does not offer factory tours. The gift shop now offers a small selection of JB products so you can get your Mike & Ike fix satisfied before you go. * The first floor has displays regarding the steel making process in the area, the canal system, a complete history of Northampton County, artifacts (uniforms-drums-weapons) relating to County residents participation in WWII-WWI and the Civil War, Lenape ways, archeology, colonial life, conflict, and creative arts. To me the featured item is the original Treaty of Easton from 1758. This document came from negotiations between thirteen Native American Nations and the British where the Nations agreed not to fight for the French against the British. IN return they had large tracts of land in PA returned to them although they had to give up all land holdings in NJ for the princely sum of $1,000. * The second floor hasn't changed so I'll defer to Aaron's explanation as it's better than anything I could come up with. The museum itself is not all that large and while certain parts are interesting (many amazing pictures of the area from 100+ years ago) many parts are very dry and/or it would have helped to have had someone there to explain a few pieces (only one volunteer in the exhibit area and the only other couple in the place talked his ear off for probably over half an hour non-stop). IMHO, this is not really a place for younger children as the material while interesting is dry and without anyone there to explain parts of it if you're not a history person they're not going to get much from what they're looking at. I suppose Sigal falls into that once and done category of I'm glad we went and certain parts were no doubt interesting but I really don't feel a need to go back. Three stars in reality but I'm feeling generous and will go four since it didn't cost me anything.

This place is awesome we enjoyed it so much! Random stop on our way home from Philadelphia. This…read moreplace was really neat the cavern was awesome with great formations and lots to see. Our tour guide and staff were great too and were friendly. Price was great and loads of parking available. They also have a nature trail as well on the property.

Shorter guided cavern tour, which was original the Heller town Cave and then became Lost River…read moreCaverns. Our tour guide had informed our group, that the Lost River origin is still yet to be determined.History dates back to quarry workers 1883, public tours since 1930. My favorite parts of the tour were the 300 year old stallagitite, and the water throughout the cave; containing dulehemitite limestone, which contains magnesium, and if one drank the water , the bathroom would be their friend, lol. Overall, fun way to beat the heat and learn something new .

This was a neat little house/museum that I hadn't heard of but was just randomly looking up things…read moreto do in the area and found it. It's right next to Princeton's campus and the Battle of Trenton Memorial. My husband is a big fan of all the Signers of the Declaration, and unlike a more restored house about the people who owned the house, it focuses on the Stockton family who lived here and the American Revolution and a special exhibit. We were actually here for a few hours since there's a lot of signs to read and a lot of Richard Stocktons who lived in the house, followed by some governors. When I went, there was also a really interesting exhibit on Ma Bell and the history of telecommunications upstairs. This was a great historical site, a cheap price, and a nice space. Would love to come back when the garden is in bloom, and I will look out for future exhibitions as they rotate in.

I was fortunate to be able to go when they were offering a cream tea which I can highly recommend…read more It was quite wonderful. The tour was interesting and ok but with limited things to see. There was information about some Stockton family members who lived there but would have liked to have more broad information. The house is quite beautiful and the garden is very nice. I did enjoy the visit but the cream tea was really the best.

Very interesting tour of this formidable fortress-like old jail. History of the place quite grim,…read moretreatment of people just horrible, especially the Irish back in the day. But history is important, and they gave a good history of the cruel overlords of the coal mining industry, and the resistance put forward by the Molly Maguires, who fought for fair wages, treatment and justice. Jail operational until 1975. Worth a visit. Correction: Jail operational until 1995.

We throughly enjoyed our tour through the Old Jail Museum! The guided tour was informative, while…read morealso giving tourists the freedom to explore around themselves at their own pace. The staff and guide(s) were very kind and helpful! The only thing I would see as a "negative" is the information received in the ~5 minute pre-tour video, that gets repeated again afterwards, taking up a chunk of time.

This reminds me of a NyC attraction called the Highline, except with different views. I can't…read morebelieve that this used to be a working steel factory in the past. There were small signs on the walk which were all numbered which speaks about the various parts of the trestle and history behind it all. It wasn't a great sight to see, but it sure was interesting. It was very clean the pathway so I was very impressed with all of that. Apparently, there are volunteers helping out to make sure the areas clean.

I didn't know what to expect when we drove here but after doing some research I learned that if you…read morego to hoovermason.com you can access a free audio tour. (The person at the visitor center didn't mention this at all perhaps because they want you to pay for the guided tour) There are markers that you click on each stop along the trestle that explain the steel business, the making of steel, audio clips from the steel workers and the buildings that you see around you. It was a bit sad to see nature starting to take over the steel plant, trees and vines growing where such a thriving business once took place. Steel for such remarkable structures as the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge was made here! But it's wonderful that this trestle was built (and it's handicapped accessible too!) so that you can really get up close to the incredible stacks and this behemoth man made wonder. Take about 2 hours of your day to explore this and learn a bit about the industry that made Bethlehem great in the early 20th century.

This place has been on my radar for a while, and I'm genuinely kicking myself for not coming…read moresooner. We visited on a Friday afternoon during the school year and it was the perfect day for it, not crowded at all, staff was warm and attentive everywhere you turned, and there was just so much to explore across two floors. As a homeschool mom, I am always on the lookout for places where kids are learning without even realizing it and this delivered completely. My little ones were engaged the entire time, bouncing between exhibits and coming back to do things on repeat. The water table on the second floor was a huge hit (dam building = instant obsession), the crawl-through body exhibit had them giggling the whole way through, and the immersive hall with the giant projector and the orchestra activity where they put their faces into the performers? They talked about that the whole ride home. We timed our visit to catch the 3 o'clock otter feeding and training, definitely worth planning around. Maybe 30 people gathered and it was totally manageable and really sweet to watch. What surprised me most was how engaged I was as an adult. I was genuinely learning things alongside my kids, which is not always the case at these types of places. It felt appropriate and interesting for every age in our group. A few things to know before you go: follow the directions on their website for the specific parking garage , it's about a 5-minute walk and was only $5 for us. Strollers and wagons are totally doable with elevators throughout. They also have a café if you want to make a full day of it, and rotating special exhibits (always check the website ahead of time so you know what's on and whether it fits your crew). We stayed about two and a half hours and left happy. Already thinking about when we're coming back.

Very overpriced. I feel bad for the large local families who can't get in at all or can't get in to…read morethe "special" exhibit. I have seen every special exhibit and let me tell ya - not worth any extra fee, especially what they charge. But with that said the Da Vinci center is only really worth it for the "special exhibit". It REALLY pays off to become a member even if you think you'll go once a season. Nothing so impressive. No real meaningful selling points. It's just okay. I liked it better when it was on CC. Go on Sundays. It's empty and street parking is free.