A must-see for American history buffs. Excellent interpretive exhibits that bring the period 1825…read moreto 1950 to life. Proximity to the "Flight of Five" historic and working modern locks makes it even better. So what made America great in the 19th century? A bold government funded infrastructure project, lots of immigrant labor, and a shared vision for the future.

The locks of Erie Canal and also the name sack of the town ", Lockport. The locks are open for self…read moreguided tours. With the visitor panels, you begin to understand the importance of the canal and it's construction. There's also a canal boat on display. My advice is to wear hiking shoes because of all the steps and to walk along the canal.

I stopped by the Erie Canal Discovery Center yesterday while I was in the Buffalo area. The site is…read morepart of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and is a fun little museum. The highlight of the center is the simulator, which begins with the audience sitting on benches listening to an actor portraying the architect behind the Flight of Five locks. He describes the canal construction process and the unique features of the Lockport portion of the canal before the screen partially retracts, leading the actor to beckon the visitors onto a mock-up of a packet boat. Once aboard, the screen closes again and a new video features one a canal worker describing the working of a lock as the video gives the impression of the boat rising. As the lock doors open, doors open in front of the boat so that visitors may step off and enter the exhibit space. Most of the exhibits are interactive, with buttons for children to push and little quizzes based on canal knowledge. There are some photographs of the canal under construction as well as a framed certificate from the Canal Collector's Office. The third floor houses the Charles Rand Penney Collection of historic Niagara County artifacts, which will be of great interest to those who enjoy local history. It is the one spot not designed primarily for children, but older children should be able to find some interest in the artifacts. After going through the museum, one can take a self-guided walking tour around Lockport by following Riley's Way: a map located in the discovery center. It's a fun place to have a day trip and a must-visit for those collection National Parks cancellation stamps.

Black and blue restaurant went there with my two sons got there around six left there a couple…read morehours later most of the wait time was waiting for waiters to acknowledge us. The food I had surf and turf. The lobster was slightly undercooked. The steak was like eating a brick, my two sons also had steaks and my one son his steak was like a brick. My other son had surf and turf. His lobster was overcooked the wait time between getting the appetizers and ordering the food was short and getting the food was almost an hour and half i motion to a waiter And they ignored you the whole time we ate the dinner nobody bothered to ever come by and see how the dinner was or how it tasted. I guess they knew they did a crappy job my total bill was $425.00 with tip I would never go back there again. This was my second time I would never go back there even if they offered free food they kept giving my order to one or anther of my sons they couldn't keep straight the orders and who ordered what The macaroni and cheese came out rice and cheese. The crème brûlée was straight out of the refrigerator. They did melt the crust on the top of the sugar top. My review would be find another place. Any other place I

Toronto Review 7/Many: I went to the Royal Ontario Museum as the first of many museums/exhibitions…read morewe did in the city. Apparently, tickets are cheaper if you book them online, but they were reasonable enough, with the typical discounts for seniors or kids. We added both the special exhibits, and for those interested, I would recommend one (Psychedelics) but not the other (Bees.) The first floor included the first special exhibit, "Bees: A Story of Survival," which was a collaboration/moving exhibition by the National Museums Liverpool along with Wolfgang Buttress. The exhibit covered bees in many ways, including their habits, conservation, and other topics. This was all presented in a series of corridors with many touch screens, though one of them wasn't working right. The rooms overall were pretty dark, with the whole exhibit being pretty abstract, including hives large enough for us to walk through, among other things. In the background, there was a mix of classical music and the sound of bees, but I couldn't really hear the bees, which might be a good thing, honestly. Overall, it was a bit of a letdown as it was just a bit too abstract for my liking, which was a bit of a buzzkill. Soon after, we beelined (okay, I'll stop) to the other exhibit, which was on the 4th floor. The other, much better exhibit, was "Psychedelics: Art, Culture. Science." It was a bit hard to find, as it was through an extra door which probably needs a label, but once inside, it was excellent. It was quite large and included various methods cultures have used to consume said substances, some music and other things created by said cultures, and many paintings/albums inspired by psychedelics. The exhibit also included a video portraying a "trip," which was unique and quite loud. It also ended with a nice artwork by Brian Blomerth (or should I say blometh for this exhibit/I kid,) who also has a rather trippy homepage. Outside of the two special exhibits, we went through a variety of things before getting hungry. Another exhibit I enjoyed was "Shokkan: Material Encounters in Japanese Art," which included some touchable objects and some good details and facts that I wasn't personally aware of. There was also a room that went over the various fauna and flora of Crawford Lake, and otherwise we checked out some general things. The other exhibits included suits of armor/weapons, a good mixture of dinosaurs, a more general Asian gallery (which unfortunately had a lot of background noise as they were working on another room, so we left,) and a small exhibit on Judaica. A particular highlight of the rest was a section going over various periods of European history, ranging from Baroque to Renaissance to semi-modern styles, including examples of rooms, architecture, music, and other things. While not my favorite thing we did on the trip, this was an excellent museum overall. I can see why it's so popular, and I would go back to see other exhibits so I could see the rest of the museum.

Huge! We did 2 sections:…read more1. European household goods. Educational. Relaxing. 2. Dinosaurs. A massive exhibit. The best I have ever seen. $68.93 CAD for admission for 2. $9.60 CAD for coffee and hot chocolate.

My first time in Canada was awesome! We visited the Hill near the falls and the attractions there…read more We went to Louis Tussaud's which my fiancee really enjoyed. My favorite part was trying to guess who the faces belonged to on the walls. I would bring friends here.

If you're getting this with the Ripleys bundle with Ripleys Selfie Station then it's worth it but…read moretotally not a full price. It's a fun place to visit but many of the waxworks are pretty rough. They have some good displays but the head sculpts on many leave you asking who's that supposed to be? Alas that is not uncommon with wax museums so the reason for 4/5 stars. You can breeze through a place like this quickly if you're not stopping to take pics and look over all the sculpts so take your time and get the most out of this. Highlight for us was the chamber of horrors section - which pushed me to 4 stars. The scenes are well lit and the vibe is creepy!! Well done!!

Fun time with the kids. Seeing Santa and being on the train. Golden ticket and Hot Chocolate made…read morethe day

Amazing model train layout! Biggest in Nee York and it is just mind blowing. I could spend the…read moreafternoon just looking at that. The artifacts all around are fun. There is so much to look at. If you like trains you should see this place.

My appointment was at 2:40pm and I was back in my car by 2:45 pm! The Workers and Volunteers were…read moreawesome and ran the process of Covid-19 vaccinations like a well oiled machine! They even had Red Pom-Poms to direct you to rhe seats and out the door! Thank you everyone for this process in these trying times! Be safe!

An absolute gem in the Lockport community. The house is a beautiful space to rent for an event. The…read morearena is home to recreations like soccer, and larger scale events. Great gallery shows in the Kenan House, and Jazz shows in the Taylor Theater.

Toronto Review 14/Many: While visiting Toronto not long AGO, we went to this museum. Aside from…read morethat terrible pun, the museum was excellent and quite big, with an interesting mix of modern and old artwork. Of course, we didn't love everything, but that's to be expected with modern art. Anyway, it didn't take long for us to enter, but it was a bit difficult to find everything. Part of this was because some of the hallways couldn't be accessed, as there was what looked like a wedding reception on parts of the lower floors. The first thing that we went to was their signature exhibit right now, "The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art." It was a nicely designed exhibit that took up the entire floor, with plenty of space between each artwork, allowing people to get around and look at everything. I was happy to see that it wasn't just works by the most prolific artists, but also works by Morisot, Bernard, and Munch, among others. There was also a nice gift shop for this exhibit, among other things. Also, there was a nice observation area up the stairs, even with the fifth-floor gallery being closed. Of the other special exhibits, my favorite one was "Ranbir Sidhu: No Limits." A London-born but Toronto-based sculpture creator, Sidhu created works for this exhibit that were made primarily of mirror-finished stainless steel and were fascinating to look at due to their sheer size and scale. If you want to look up one of them, Asteroid 3033 X1 is the centerpiece. Near the end of my time there, I also saw "Diego Marcon: The Bubble Boy," which had some interesting use of CGI and puppets, with one of the movies reminding me a little bit of Anomalisa from a few years ago. Outside of these works, I wasn't as big a fan of "Dawoud Bey: Material Histories, Living Landscapes." The shadows were interesting, and some of the work had interesting faces, but I found the movie inside to be on the more pointless side, even if it had some creepy/unsettling aspects to the music and otherwise. Due to the giant line, I wasn't able to see "Yayoi Kusama's INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM - LET'S SURVIVE FOREVER" either. The pictures look nice, but I wasn't planning on waiting what seemed like 45 minutes or an hour, so if you don't want to wait that long, go there immediately. The Dutch master paintings from "Painted Presence: Rembrandt and His Peers" were also nice, with some more impressionist works around the corner. Outside of this, there was some interesting Indigenous and Canadian art, some other Dutch/European works, a nice collection of snuff bottles, and a large space with sculptures by Henry Moore. I would go over everything else, but I won't, as there was a lot. Overall, it was a nice selection of works from all over, with my only complaint being that it was a bit difficult to find everything. I would highly recommend taking several hours to go to this museum.

We had an excellent visit. 1. Paul McCartneys photos from…read more1963-64. A must for this Beatles fan. 2. Canadian modern art. Stretches the brain. 3. Henry Moore sculpture garden. $60 CAD for admission for 2 $8 coat check for 2 $13.95 for coffee and pastry

For a solid year, I wanted to go to a first Friday at the AKG. I didn't want to be there one to…read moreattempt Buffalo driving (we circled around to parallel park at 430) and needed someone to echo my musings. Well, I finally made it! We went through check in, where you had to fork over a suggested donation (instead of the usual 22 dollars). They take card, though we gave cash, which seemed like an easier way to exercise the discount. They offered an extra paid section to opt into for an extra 8 dollar charge that we turned down, taking our tiny tags. They're dinky and reusable and gotta attach somewhere to your person. She had also given me a wristband for the strap of Duckles, which had to be checked by a second girl who warned me that I could not wear my knapsack on my back. Could make it a tummy sack or an elbow purse to avoid bumping things, which is how I ended up cradling a stuffed duck around the museum. We hadn't nabbed a map and thought we could wing it. There are qr codes scattered about for info beyond the placards and finding where you have landed. We lucked out and scored a paper map abandoned on one of the numerous benches (there's also chairs and pull out chairs hanging for your resting pleasure) that we attempted to read. My directionally challenged self asked one of the security to send us off to the bridge, given two choices of route. We dodged the scenic way for a temporary outdoor escape, passing more art. Popping back inside we absorbed even more subsets of time and genre, respecting drawn boundaries and only touching things that said we could. There were things that touched us, our souls, that we could take photos of. There were also bizarre things and a bit of nudity. It's all art, including the special presentations and live music and everyday artists sketching in the hall. There was an interactive exhibit in the main that we skipped in the name of rumbling tummies, though we didn't try the cafe. Also avoided the gift shop, cutting out as the crowd began to swell around 6. The place was impeccably clean despite the abundance of windows and smudge worthy doors. It was worth coming out, though I'm unsure how often the exhibits rotate. Come see an authentic famous few and many more that'll have you saying the Albright is pretty *alright*.

The Buffalo AKG Art Museum is our local pride, and requires no advertising or persuasion to visit…read more Believe me, it's a fantastic destination. It's a beautiful space with a nice collection of fine arts. There is a new, three-story extension, a whole new building actually. So, be sure to have plenty of time to explore everything. Their website is very informative and easy to navigate. Check out the current special events and exhibitions. Currently, among others, on display is the "One with Eternity" by Yayoi Kusama, which includes her two Infinity Mirror Rooms and "Pumpkin", a giant orange pumpkin in an orange room covered with black dots. Tickets for this exhibition must be purchased separately and are valid for specific time slots. If there is a big crowd that day, wait a little and don't come from the beginning of your time slot (or figure this out by yourself). We had to leave and come back after a ridiculous experience. Waiting twenty minutes in line to see the actual installation for forty five seconds!? It was very confusing, and I believe there must be a different way to actually enjoy Kusama's work. We came back to see the second room with no wait, but still, with the forty five seconds rule. Ugh... Yes, let's loop if this is the only way which works. Don't forget, the general museum admission is free on the first Friday of the month, and I like that price.

Please do not waste your heard earned money on this place it's just not worth it. Very small…read moreinside, hardly any photo worthy installations

The Vortex Tunnel and Mirror Images rooms are FIRE. What a awesome museum we had the pleasure of…read morevisiting. So much to see and do, Probably one of the best museums I have been too. Lots of entertainment and learning for your children as well. Please come visit Museum Of Illusions when you have a chance.