If you are in the Hatfield area and you're interested in local history this is the place to go!…read more The museum , which is located on the second floor of the town library, has a wonderfully curated collection of local historical items. In particular they have a very nice collection of civil war items, nineteen and early twentieth century housewares, and medical tools from the early twentieth century. And if you're in the area in the summer be sure to also visit the Hatfield Farm Museum which is located behind the building.

Being a devoted fan of children's picture books, visiting the Eric Carle Museum was truly amazing…read more Unlike New York, there isn't a similar museum there. The space was spacious with high ceiling. I stumbled upon interesting books with unfamiliar authors. The staff were friendly, and they offer engaging activities for kids. I can see the value in this place. No cafe is available but there is a snack vending machine and indoor and outdoor seating. There is a water bottle refill machine. I would advise to grab some food first at Atkins Farms as it is a just a few minutes' drive away. It offers a convenient option. Overall, I had a positive experience and I recommend others to come visit this unique place.

I found the Eric Carle Museum a bit underwhelming for the price. I also wasn't really sure who the…read moretarget audience was. The museum has two galleries, a paint room, a library, and an auditorium. Personally, I could spend a decent amount of time reading through the gallery exhibits, but younger kids can't really see or reach a lot of them, so I think they'd get bored pretty quickly. There are a few interactive activities like creating your own recipe or using the peg boards but they felt a little gimmicky rather than being a core part of the experience. The paint room was probably the highlight for kids since there were lots of supplies and things to create, but I didn't see anything my son couldn't already do at home. With that said, kids could probably spend an hour or more here so it should definitely keep them busy. That's kind of where the museum confuses me. I thought this was aimed at younger kids but many of the exhibits are better appreciated by adults. At the same time, older kids will probably find the children's activities too basic. It ends up feeling like it's trying to appeal to everyone without fully committing to one audience. Admission should be much cheaper or donation based. If you're visiting the area, check with your local library first because many libraries offer free passes, and that's definitely the way I'd recommend going. Ironically, I think I'd enjoy coming back by myself more than with my kids. I'd take my time going through the galleries and learning about Eric Carle's work. With young kids though, I found myself feeling rushed because they weren't really engaged. I could also see it being a worthwhile visit for aspiring writers, illustrators, or anyone interested in children's literature.

The Beneski Museum of Natural History is on the Amherst College campus and is one of those smaller…read moremuseums that consistently surprises visitors who arrive without strong expectations. We walked into a building that is modern and elegantly designed, spotlessly maintained, and organized in a way that made navigation intuitive across the three floors. The collection spans three floors and covers fossils, dinosaur skeletons, mineral and gemstone specimens, and an extensive dinosaur track collection with particular connections to the Connecticut River Valley, which produced some of the most significant dinosaur trackways in North America. The dinosaur material is the centerpiece. Two full mammoth skeletons, a T. rex skull, and a range of other fossil specimens give the collection a visual impact that larger natural history museums with more resources and more famous specimens would be proud to have. The dinosaur tracks are a specific strength and the connection to local geology adds a regional dimension that makes the collection feel distinct rather than generic. Staff and professors associated with the collection were present and willing to answer questions in depth, which gave our visit a more engaged quality than a self guided tour at a larger institution typically offers. The museum is free and open to the public, which makes it an easy addition to any visit to the Amherst area without any planning required. For a small college museum that delivers a world class fossil collection in a beautiful modern space, the Beneski Museum of Natural History is a hidden gem in western Massachusetts and well worth a stop. It is the kind of place where you go in for a quick look and end up spending an hour without realizing it.

This place is about as awesome as it gets. I took my 8 year old son and my 70 year old mother, and…read morewe all had a great time walking around the three levels. The staff was very friendly, and my son was super happy to chat them up about the different things on display, and share what he knew with them. We spent about two hours, and we could easily head back again.

Small museum with lots of information. This place made me reminisce my younger years. Meaning a…read morelong time ago in a galaxy far .... But It was a time well spent. If you are in Holyoke, MA it won't hurt to visit and learn about a sport that is just too awesome.

The only reason I knew this place existed is because I was somewhat of a volleyball nerd growing…read moreup, and retained the fact that volleyball was invented in Holyoke, MA after some research for a jr. high oral report on volleyball. Visiting Boston for the first time, my husband and I took a side trip to Springfield for the Basketball Hall of Fame, and I randomly remembered Holyoke. Looked it up, and it was just a 20-min. Uber ride to Holyoke from Springfield. Holyoke itself is a small town. Driving through, I saw a lot of abandoned factories/warehouses. It looks like a quiet place. I'm glad that volleyball, while being more popular in the west coast and globally, chose to keep some roots in the city that invented it. (Side question: does the FIVB put anything into this HOF?) My husband and I were the only visitors during our time there. It took about an hour to go thoroughly through EVERYTHING. The HOF shares a building with the children's museum. There is an admission fee of $8 for adults, and there are varying discounts I can't remember. It's a museum with several displays - a history of volleyball (including sister sports beach/sitting), display boxes for each member of the current class of inductees, biography displays of recent inductees, a video that plays when prompted (on a CRT TV - come one guys, you can at least upgrade that!), half a volleyball court with net set-up from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, info boards on notable players like Karch Kiraly and Flo Hyman, and different paraphernalia (my fave - a 1984 Olympic game ball from the men's gold medal game). There is a small store with t-shirts, sweaters, mugs, stickers, etc. I think the place could use a little more updating. It looks like it got stuck in the 90's, but I was glad I got to see this little gem. I think it's worth the trip (from Boston) if you're a hard core volleyball fan.

As someone who has loved and cherished Emily Dickinson's poetry my entire life, I hate to leave…read moresuch a bad review, but it was my honest experience. So, they strongly recommend you order your tickets online to make sure there is enough availability, so I did. However, when we got to the museum, they said something along the lines of our tickets being invalid for some reason. We were a party of elderly and disabled people so if something went wrong on their online system or the ticket order wasn't processed correctly we should not be punished. They refused to let us in, but at least we could walk around the grounds for free, and they were truly very lovely; unfortunately, the people who run the museum are not.

I want to kick this review off with a fact nugget- I knew NOTHING about Emily Dickinson (except…read morethat she was a poet) before I planned my trip the prior week to visiting the museum. This was a learning experience. It was Mother's Day weekend and also the museums 41st annual poetry walk to celebrate the anniversary of Emily's death. This is really what caught my eye- I love special events. So here are two review in one: Poetry walk Review: You report to the home, pick up a pamphlet that identifies the poem that will be read at each stop along the way along with a map of the stops and your daisies (her favorite flower.) Note: you are asked to pre-register online for the event (I mean they need to know how many pamphlets and daisies!) Off you go! We knew we were going to make it for maybe one stop and the cometary (last stop) due to an early morning tee ball game I wasn't going to miss. So that's what happened, we were able to stop at one poetry stop right outside the cemetery where they read two poems aloud and people were able to ask questions. The final stop is visiting Emily at her family plot in the West Cemetery (take a look at that mural on your left as you start waling into the cemetery with Emily in the center.) As we neared her tombstone, they were passing out cups of lemonade for a noon toast to Emily. They told some facts about the cemetery, a song was song that was inspired by Emily's writing and then one of her poems was read. We then raised our glasses and cheers to the woman herself. After the toast, everyone took their daisies and gently placed them on or around her headstone or the gate to the family's plot. It was nice to walk back through town as we grabbed lunch and then scooted back to the house for our 2pm pre-purchased entry into the house. Very nice event. The House Review: First off- no parking on site. Based on my experience- I would suggest not visiting the house during the week when college is in session! Around the house most parking spots are permit parking only for the college. With the event happening as well, it was hard to find parking. The Dickinson house has bene restored to Emily's writing hay day. As much as we did not have a guided tour (those happen in the morning) there were people stationed in each room who were a wealth of information. I had a lot of questions and they were not stumped and answered beautifully. I learnt a lot from all these fine folks who were just so interested in her, the family and the historical aspects. Thank you! (I really asked a lot of questions.) Austin's house, The Evergreen House, next door is preserved. Very different from Emily's. One has frozen in time and one has been reinvigorated to present the time. Walking through Austin's home was quite interesting as well. Their art is very interesting. I do enjoy how the museum opted to treat each house differently. I have mixed feelings after my trip about Emily and her poems especially the heavy editing but none the less very impressed with the museum and the people working there- vast amounts of knowledge that they were easily willing to share.

David Ruggles, born free in Lyme CT, became a printer and journalist championing the Abolitionist…read moreMovement. He aided Frederick Douglas's escape from Maryland and assisted Douglas in reuniting with his wife Anna. Ruggles was a sales agent and wrote articles for the Emancipator and The Liberator, both antislavery newspapers. He was in involved in The Free Produce Movement which boycotted produce and products produced by slaves. He was the secretary of The New York Committee of Vigilance, a biracial organization that assisted fugitive slaves from the South and informed them of their rights in the free state of New York. David Ruggles was active in the Underground Railroad and is said to have led 600 slaves to freedom in the North. Frederick Douglas owes much to Ruggles as he was radicalized by him and went on to become one of the the most prominent black figures in the antislavery movement.

DISCLAIMER!! I sometimes have work on display here…read more Great gallery, more so than you'd ever expect to find in a small town. In addition to the larger works of art, many hand-made high level craft-type things for sale, occasional juried competitions. Art classes, space for rent for events. Sometimes they hold performances there (disclaimer number 2.... I've performed there), unfortunately not very often these days. Limited hours/days, so check out the website before heading over. http://www.greentreesgallery.com/

update?: I remember scanning the badge after waiting in what is apparently now called the overflow…read moreline. Is the time spent in each line being tracked? When I first went many years ago, there were no badges back then, so I don't see how management could know that the wait was *never* that long. I gave it a more positive review 6 years ago for being unique - that's why I wanted to go again, but it didn't hit the same the second time... perhaps I expected more to change over half a decade. For being so dependent on story telling, the little videos throughout the haunt have terrible audio quality. This is one of 10 haunts I visited this year, the lack of jump scares isn't the issue.

Horrible very noisy , waste of time haunt. The review that mentions waiting for hours in two…read moredifferent rooms is very true. We waited in the smaller room for 2 hours. The haunt prides it self on making people wait for 5 hours! It did not flow at all. You spent more time waiting for doors to Open then anything else. They made sure you didn't see any other group. Not scary at all. The scary part was waiting in line. You could not move forward until you watched a video in every other room. Hardly any actors in the haunt. I wish I could get a refund for this horrible experience. The worst haunt I have ever been too.