The Bonsai Museum is a hidden gem. We had a few hours to kill before picking up dinner and heading…read moreover to my cousins house. Since she and her family live in Fife, I ordered and scheduled pickup for 2:30 pm in Federal Way. We weren't what to do in the meantime and so I looked up botanical parks. The bonsai Museum and the Rododendron botanical Park came up. We noticed they were across from each other and so we headed over to the parks. It's a nice drive over there as everything is so green and lush. Once we parked, we noticed that we needed to walk a bit to get to the exhibits. Once we got to the exhibits, the Rododendron botanical park was on the left side with $12 entrance fee and on the right side was the bonsai Museum with free entry. On the outside, they do have restrooms available before heading into the bonsai museum We didn't know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised with all the bonsai displays they had by the different artists from different countries, and there were a lot. It took us about 30 minutes to get through the entire exhibit. We would've stayed longer to read all the information, but we were running short on time and we still wanted to visit the botanical park across the way. I highly recommend the Pacific Bonsai Museum if you're in the Federal Way area especially because it's free.

Admission to the Pacific Bonsai Museum is free and there were a vast amount of bonsai trees on…read moredisplay. I loved that the exhibit is located among the Pacific Northwest trees. I enjoyed seeing the variety and reading about its history from the original owner who started the growth of the tree. This museum is next to the former Weyerhaeuser headquarters which is now vacant. Highly recommend this museum whether you are a bonsai fan or not.

What a wholesome experience for the entire family! 5 floors of different type of Model trains while…read moreyou go through the states history as well. If you are here for the train displays with your kids, you need to cover floor 1 as the last stop. Floor 1 has play area with Legos and Toy train tracks and the toddlers don't want to go anywhere else! Super friendly staff at each display who are eager to interact with the kids and the adults. I missed it last year, now, we might end up coming here every year!

We came in December during a train event without having realized the trains were on display. It was…read morea happy coincidence, as my kids really enjoyed the displays and talking to the hobbyists. The actual history museum had a lot of interesting and well put together displays. The exhibit on native people was very interesting and informative. I grew up in the area and moved away without ever having learned much about the local native tribes and their history, so it was great to learn more as an adult. My kids are 8 and 5 and this place held their attention for over 3 hours. We probably could've stayed longer, but our tummies were growling so it was time to find lunch.

Children's Museum for free! Yep! They ask for donation and I was happy to donate! The staff are…read morecourteous and helpful and even caution the unruly kids running around! Water play area is definitely the most high activity zone. My kid almost spent an hour playing in that area. The air flow duct with scarves is another fun area for the kid. Among all the other museums I have visited, the painting, arts & crafts area is quite unique to this museum. The wooden boards and the net at the end of the museum is another adventure for all kids and not available in other museums. This was the first time I saw my kid feeling the courage to climb over the ropes and explore. The paid parking area near the museum has good number of spots but the signs can be confusing as it says "only reserved" and you tend to wonder if you will get ticketed. Park Mobile app location 50271 is good and confirmed by museum folks! Or there is street parking too!

This isn't a very large children's museum, but my 5 and 8 year old had a ton of fun playing. It's…read moreso nice that it is pay what you can so that anyone can come. We were impressed by the cleanliness. Though, I didn't look closely, nothing jumped out as being gross. If you're in the area, it's worth a stop, but I wouldn't go too far out of the way for it.

Always a fun time !…read more Car enthusiast, a must ! We loved the first floor display, it changes from time to time. Recommend following the recommended walking route. Start at top right hand side walk ramp down and loop back up! Plenty of bathrooms, parking, cafe, & gift shop!

5+ stars. How about 10 stars? If you are a car buff, this is a no-brainer. If you just have a…read morecasual interest in cars, then you should come. Block out at least a couple of hours to see it, but you will want to spend at least half a day there. The museum is ingeniously designed in a double helix. Keep going down to see the exhibits and then go back up to see the rest. There are cars for everyone's tastes. Great collection of antique, classic, and contemporary autos. So fun to see them all. World class museum. 5* = A top favorite. Mind-blowing good. I will definitely return and I will go out of my way to go here. Worth every dime of my money. 4* = Outstanding. Top-tier. Some elements not quite as good as it gets, but it still is worthy of my regular business. 3* = Good experience. I might do repeat business if it is convenient, the only option, the only one in its category, or on a whim, but would not be among the first thing to come to mind. Would definitely recommend you trying it to get your own take on it. 2* = Not so good. Would not recommend at all. Waste of money. 1* = How are they still in business? Stay away at all costs!

The Buffalo Soldiers Museum is definitely an overlooked museum in Tacoma and is definitely worth…read morechecking out. Admission is free which is always a plus! If you want to donate however you can by the front door. The Buffalo Soldiers is a term for African American cavalry soldiers. The term was given by Native Americans because these soldiers reminded them of the buffalo due to the fierce and brave nature which was often how the animal exhibited. This museum focuses on 9th and 10th cavalry regiments but the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments. These regiments were involved in several wars. The American Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, Mexican Border War and World War 1 and World War 2. Other wars are mentioned at the museum as well like the Korean War. The museum is relatively small but there is a large amount of information and artifacts and the person that greeted us was very friendly and gave us lots of information which was great! I definitely recommend the Buffalo Soldier's Museum as there are lots of pieces and stories from American history here that is fascinating and educational!

I was told about the Buffalo Soldier Museum by a neighbor friend of mine on a Friday afternoon as…read morewe sat enjoying lunch together. She mentioned her parents who had been visiting from California, went to the museum and found it very interesting and enjoyable. The museum had limited hours they were open. She reached for her phone and looked up the museum hours. Well, it just so happened, the museum was going to be open the next day between the hours of 12pm - 4pm. So, here I am enjoying and learning about the Buffalo Soldiers. I highly recommend going to this little museum in the Hilltop neighborhood and supporting the museum and the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. Totally loved it!

This is a gorgeous and intriguing museum that I highly recommend - although be advised that right…read morenow they are renovating. They will re-open their main galleries in the fall of 2026. To help soften the blow, they have lowered admission price in the interim. The hot shop is also still open and you can watch live glass making there. There are a few exhibit cases on view. There are lots of fun works that kids' designed that are also on view on the main lobby and down the hall. We went for a glass making class, which was tons of fun. I'm sure attendance varies widely - ours was not crowded. The person monitoring the class, Audrey, was friendly; she explains everything and then you have at it. She is there to help, which includes cutting glass pieces to suit whatever design you are making (this probably depends on the style of glass you are making). FYI the gift shop is really nice and is available even if you don't go into the museum. You can purchase works by glass artists who have been at the museum - so it's more than your average gift shop.

This museum is located in Tacoma which is 30 minutes away from the Seattle airport. It is located…read moreby the Tacoma Museum of Art as well. We stopped by here before a flight, please allow for 1 1/2 hours to explore this small museum. It could be longer if you want to watch the glass artists create a piece from beginning to end. We really enjoyed watching the artists create! Parking is in a lot below the museum, there is a pay station. We took the stairs up to the main museum and then walked the bridge above the museum that leads to downtown Tacoma. I found the glass artists create displayed beautiful.

This place is so cool and the history behind it...Wow! The community has done an amazing job at…read morerestoring the home and grounds. Run on donations to restore and maintain. This home is open on special occasions so check the calendar before showing up. The university of Washington has a master head gardner who teaches certain skills to learn. A volunteer basis is welcome to work the garden and grounds.