Only 90 reviews so far? That is surprising for a place this large and this well put together…read more The Gilmore Car Museum is much more than a single building filled with old cars. It is an entire campus with multiple buildings, historic-looking streets, a vintage diner, recreated service stations, and separate exhibits covering different manufacturers and periods of automotive history. There is a lot to see, and it would be easy to spend most of the day here without getting through everything. The quality of the environment is what really stands out. The buildings, signs, displays, and surrounding grounds all feel carefully planned and maintained. It has an almost Disneyland-level attention to detail, just without the rides. Instead of simply placing cars in rows, many of the vehicles are displayed in settings that help explain their history and make the experience more interesting. The collection itself is extensive, ranging from very early automobiles to unusual prototypes, luxury cars, and more familiar classics. The vehicles we saw were in excellent condition, and the exhibits included enough information to provide context without turning every stop into a long reading assignment. The staff members we encountered were friendly, knowledgeable, and clearly interested in the museum. The entire property was also exceptionally clean and well maintained. Even people who are not serious car enthusiasts could appreciate the history, architecture, and effort that went into creating this place. For anyone interested in automobiles, it is absolutely worth going out of the way to visit.

This museum took my dad and I back down memory lane. If you're looking to relive core memories with…read moreyour family this is the place that you need to go. I'd like to start by mentioning the staff. They were incredibly friendly, welcoming and accommodating. They took the time to explain everything to us and made us feel like we were part of the family. Now let's get to the fun part the cars! I can tell that these curators take time making sure these cars are immaculately clean. They make sure that they give you historical anecdotes and touches and they really care about the community. I really liked their historical section focusing on African-American women and their history with cars. They offer so many dining options although I didn't see any vegan food on the menu I was able to obtain some chips. If you're someone who enjoys an alcoholic beverage, they do have a beautiful bar section as well. My dad enjoyed the peach pie, which you can find in a diner that is retrofitted to look like a historical diner. We also went when there was a car show so we not only had the opportunity to see all the historical vehicles within the museum. We had the beautiful opportunity to see cars from people traveling from around the world. A awesome hidden touch that a lot of people were unaware of is there is a slot car track at the museum take your time explore all the buildings you might be surprised of what you find. I want to thank the staff at the Gilmore car museum. You helped build a beautiful core memory with my dad and I.

Over priced and nothing really there took grandkids there and what a waste of time and moneyread more

Wonderful small museum on Leila Arboretum campus! Knowledgeable staff and very friendly. The…read moreplanetarium was a pleasant surprise. Special thanks to Christine who went out of her way to show my son some dinosaur fossils and much more! Spend a few hours there and then walk the Arboretum grounds for a nice way to spend an afternoon.

This is such a great free museum! Nate and I were in town recently and wanted something to do, so…read morewe stopped in. We were greeted at the front desk and given the layout of the museum. I love that they have free lockers to store your coat and personal items. Really handy as we had our winter coats on. The museum has a few special exhibits as well as a permanent collection that includes a ton of information on the history of Kalamazoo, a mummy, and a planetarium. (The planetarium show is $3 per person.) We learned about the Kalamazoo State Hospital and explored the super cool traveling exhibit Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity. I learned a lot about animals' skin and their adaptations, how skin has informed technology, and how skin has affected people historically in terms of racism and prejudice. There are a few interactive elements to the exhibit but I think it would be best for middle school kids and up. The museum overall was well kept and for the most part had working installations. I saw some kids playing and the history of Kalamazoo was really interesting. It took us about two hours to explore the museum. It's not a place I need to go every time I'm in Kalamazoo, but I would say if you're a local and have never been, you should check it out. Or if you're visiting and looking for an indoor activity!

It's been many, many years since I've been to the museum. I was very proud to show my friend and…read moreher little one. The building of wonders and artifacts. I was surprised to see so many cool new things like a small diner, a storyboard, sounds machines, wind tunnels. It was really cool! Some of the local favorites were still there. Including the mummy which we just had to check out. After looking at that we went and played a game of fact or opinion! We didn't even realize we'd played for hours and hours. Time really does fly when you're having fun!

This is an impressive small city museum, and I love that it is community-focused and has an art…read morelibrary and school along with the gallery space. My favorite of the current exhibits is the 'Cobalt to Indigo' Asian display. The high school pieces are impressive too. The museum is free on Thursdays and has a free parking lot across from the back of the building.

I love art museums, so I was excited to check out KIA while in town recently. Entry is only $5 for…read moreadults, $2 for students, and free for members, children through age 12, and active military personnel. There is free parking available in parking lots across from entrances on South and Lovell streets. The museum wasn't busy when we were there, which was nice as we were able to leisurely wander the galleries. It's not a huge museum, but I loved the Kyungmi Shin: A Story to Finding Us exhibit (through May 12, 2024). The artworks were stunning and I loved trying to find hidden images in each. The other main exhibit was American Realism: Visions of America, 1900-1950, which didn't resonate with me personally as much, but it was still interesting to see. The permanent collection downstairs was nice - I especially liked the Tiffany lamps and jewelry. There is a Chihuly sculpture hanging in the entryway, which is really cool to see. The gift shop is nicely curated with lots of great books, gifts, and more. Nate got a cute little cat shaped ceramic chopstick rest!

It's the only thing to do in Grand Rapids so I guess if you're there check it out!…read more Price was decent for the tour

An interesting tour of Sanitarium artifacts and Adventist village. We were on a docent lead tour…read moreand it was informative. A few basic questions posed by us about Dr. Kellogg were met with "I don't know", but a quick Google search filled in the blanks.

We had a wonderful visit, two adults. I'm sure our adult kids would have enjoyed it, too, but it…read morewas great for us older adults

I enjoyed the old replica of the streets exhibit. It was neat to see them. It would have been nice…read moreto go in some of the shops. The dinosaurs were neat to see.

Excellent aviation museum. It's smaller than the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Ohio, but…read morethat gives it a more intimate feel. There are fewer barriers, so visitors can get much closer to the aircraft. The enormous size of the F-14 is especially impressive when compared with the F-18 or older A-4. One volunteer shared some negative comments about museum leadership and mentioned that another volunteer had sprayed cleaning chemicals inside the F-117A bomb bay door, which reportedly smeared some of the signatures preserved there. This felt more like an internal museum matter than part of the visitor experience. The sci-fi and Alien exhibits also seemed somewhat separate from the museum's core aviation focus. Overall, the aircraft collection is excellent. Seeing the F-117A was a major highlight, and being able to walk right up to the very rare SR-71B made the visit especially worthwhile.

Once again, the courtesy at the air zoo can't be beat…read more We went with a medium sized homeschool group, and everyone was very kind and helpful and pleasant. I love how knowledgeable the staff was and how accommodating people were when we had a variety of ages of children. We always love coming to the zoo and I can rest easy that the staff is always very helpful and accommodating. My only criticism would be that we have some significant in anaphylactic allergens and the staff at Kitty Hawk Café didn't seem to be very knowledgeable about allergens and cross contamination, so we didn't feel safe at all getting any food there. I highly recommend bringing a cooler and leaving it in your car if you have allergies.

What a very nice historical place to catch some Michigan history…read more Today seeing a presentation of how the Michigan Civil War were saved through restoration.

Huge museum with lots to do and see! It was a great experience and while we were there we got to…read morelearn extra bits of information from Dean. Would recommend to anybody with some spare time on their hands!

So much history packed into this museum…read more They have their own parking lot so finding a spot was a breeze. We went on a Friday morning right when they opened and we had the place to ourselves for the majority of our visit. Having my brother-in-law, a retired automotive engineer, along made it even better. The history was fascinating. My favorite was the half scale working model and full scale side by side of Mama & Baby REO. The replica of the boardroom with the angled table to show who was in power gave a snapshot of board meetings of the past. We took our time walking through. Seeing the EV-1 was especially interesting. If you are a car buff, this would be a must do while in Lansing.

This museum is packed full of cars and vehicles, plus related memorabilia and some footage of some…read moreof the vehicles in action. There is also a lawnmower section. It is named for Ransom Eli Olds, who was a leader in both Olds Motor Works and REO Motor Car Company. The set up of the traffic lights provided quite a bit of entertainment for the family. They offer one car to get in and out of for a photo opportunity, a 1954 Oldsmobile Super 88 Convertible. The rest are for observation, and there are quite a few interesting ones. A "Mama" and "Baby" set is fun to see - the baby is a miniature replica of the full sized mama car. There's also an early EV to see. They have a small paved lot available (check signage, however, as some spots are reserved). Staff was friendly. If you are interested by the history of cars or are accompanied by car enthusiasts, this is well worth a stop!