This is closed. Closed a long time ago. It was a wonderful place but it did not get the funding it…read moreneeded.

My son LOVVVVEEEED THIS!!! Admission is $15 per person. Some of the "hands on" things were closed…read moredown due to COVID. Usually you can build dinos and dig for bones on sand, etc. They had A LOT more than I thought they would. It took over 45 minutes for us to walk around. I was really impressed. It is a nice addition for Charleston. They also have a dinosaur putt-putt course outside. I told my son that we would try that next time. The customer service lady was a real sweetheart and even gave me a ticket for free admission for our next trip. I told my son after this COVID stuff is over, we will definitely be back! Definitely a must see of you are in the area and have kids. They even have a cast of Sue's skull. I was thrilled because I remember when they found Sue back in 1990. Definitely worth a trip!

The information and history are great. It's very important for everyone to have access…read more The only thing that's puzzling is that there's no free parking.

I was in town for work and my flight didn't leave till 6 so I had lots of time to explore the…read moremuseum. Love how you start millions of years ago and progress to modern age. Each room is full of artifacts and information for each era. Easily you could spend a full day looking and exploring everything. And the best part is it's free!

Quirky outdoor roadside attraction. It's the site of the first Shoney's restaurant originally…read morecalled the Parkette Drive-In. The use of the word "museum" is a stretch because it's basically just one outdoor structure with four different sides. Each side offers background info on the entrepreneur behind Shoney's. As someone who grew up going to Shoney's with my family , it was a nostalgic stop that's worth a quick detour . Learned some interesting fun facts about the restaurant . Know before you go : Plan to spend 10-20 minutes here. It's outside so check the weather . If you really wanna go full circle there's a Shoney's restaurant less than 10 minutes away from the museum that you can eat at after your visit :-) Plenty of easy parking around

Yes, a little goofy but this is the site of the original Big Boy's Restaurant at Parkette Drive In…read more It's an outdoor museum so no admission cost and a piece of history. Nicolas Cage would have been proud!! (Google that later). I was doing the Charleston, WV ParkRun and this was right across the street from our path.

Today we went to this Great Farm with my grandson's school field trip. It costs $17 for adults and…read more$10 for kids! There are separate buildings to explore and it's self guided. With the school it was more of a guided tour! There is farm animals! We took a tractor pulled wagon ride! They were able to feed the animals! The buildings were full of antique items! If you get the chance go and enjoy this location!

Who knew that this marvelous experience awaited me. Here is the important point; This spotless Farm…read moreMuseum tells the economic history of West Virginia. Salt, Natural Gas, Oil, and Glass. Do you know who owns most of the State's mineral rights? Do you know how many Glass Companies existed? Do you know why Charleston was home to so many chemical companies? Have you walked through a low seam coal mine? Well, you will here and you can try a ropes course, zip line, and see how large a Bald Eagle's nest is. The staff is 100%.

I wrote my reviews for Hell, Michigan years ago so I guess I'll make my review #666 about the…read moreMothman Museum. That creepy cryptid looks pretty demonic in a lot of the ways he's represented in here, especially with those glowing red eyes. Mothman Museum is cheekily billed as The World's Only Mothman Museum and you quickly see why. You have to be hardcore into the lore to actually be impressed by this small museum and not be seeing this at least a little tongue in cheek. It's all in good fun, though, except for the Silver Bridge collapse which is actually pretty harrowing and tragic. Admission is only $5 and if you really want to make it worth your while you can sit and watch the entire documentary in the little viewing area. I was pretty wore out from the road and was trying to make Akron by nightfall so I only watched a little. I meant to see if it's on YouTube just like I've been meaning to watch The Mothman Prophecies. Ha! Predictive text suggested Propaganda instead of Prophecies. That's pretty funny. The gift shop is almost half as big as the museum and it's really the highlight, easily outshining a bunch of old newspaper clippings. All the Mothman fanart is fun, too, but it seems like it's really to whet your appetite for buying souvenirs. And there's actually two or three other shops in town selling Mothman t-shirts. An old coworker I knew had 2 Mothman t-shirts and I thought that was so excessive but then I saw a design I liked better than the one I bought her in another shop and was tempted to do the same thing as Zach. I didn't but I kind of get it now. The statue outside has a separate listing here and I gave it a separate review but I will say it's so flipped out and such a powerful photo/selfie magnet that it does make this small kitschy museum seem more worthwhile. My theory is that the teens who originally encountered Mothman were time travelers who saw a future Point Pleasant that was utterly devastated, more abandoned than Gary or East St. Louis. So they came back to the 60s and came up with Mothman so at least this town would have something to hang its hat on. So there would at least be this museum, a couple gift shops, Mothman indoor black light mini-golf next door (!), etc. They went back to the future and said their work was done and that's probably the best that can be done for Point Pleasant. That's my Tale from the Cryptid and I'm sticking to it.

We came to Point Pleasant for the Mothman experience and we were not disappointed. The museum…read moreitself is small and quirky and maybe a little more underwhelming than you would anticipate. It has displays on the Mothman sightings from the '60s that basically put this tiny town on the map . It also has some coverage on the Silver Bridge collapse including newspaper clippings, eyewitness accounts and quite a few props from The Mothman Prophecy movie which was fun to see up close . The giant mothman hanging from the ceiling in the hallway was probably the most fun we had inside the museum . If you're into cryptids you'll probably love it, although I will admit I was hoping for a little more. Still, the price is right and they have a nice little gift shop in the front as well. Most importantly for me, the shop and the museum are dog friendly. It also stays very busy. We visited on a random weekday in winter and the shop got so packed that at one point that we ended up stepping outside because our dog is small and I was genuinely worried she'd get stepped on. We sat on the bench out front for a while and listened to the Fallout soundtrack play through the speakers. Honestly, that little break and the ambiance of this cool little town set to some pretty groovy tunes might have been one of my favorite parts of the whole stop. When you visit, don't forget to cross the street and check out the iconic Mothman statue. In the opposite direction you will find the point pleasant trading company which also has lots of treasures to check out as well. The gift shop here is decent on its own and I did find a couple of shirts that I really wanted but I was low on cash at that particular moment, so I figured I would order them online later. It turns out that they have some merchandise here that is exclusively licensed by Bethesda to the museum, so buying it from the museum or ordering it from the museum and having it shipped is the only way to get it anyway. Learn from my mistake and just put everything you want on a credit card. Great advice right?

For five years I had heard my wife talk about how amazing the Whipple Company Store and Museum was…read more So on our way for a weekend at the New River Gorge we stopped in so I could see myself. Needless to say I was blown away! What an absolute treasure. There was an informative tour about the coal company store, the lives of the miners and their families, the coal wars, and about the architecture. The man leading the tour was knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the area. I would recommend coming here to anyone!!

Great place and very educational....i loved the owners and everybody there, very good people. it…read morewas unforgettable!!

Had a nice visit to the museum with the wife and kids. Lots of interesting stuff inside and plenty…read moreto look at for a couple of hours. The short concrete trail was well maintained but couldn't make out where the branching trails were. Everything seemed to be overgrown which was kind of a bummer. Really enjoyed the firearms collection. Staff were very friendly and gave us a little tour of the conservatory which the kids loved. They also enjoyed the craft room and the gift shop. Would recommend it for a chill day out.

When I was at the museum, Hurricane Helene came through there in September 2024. The staff was…read moresuper nice to me, as the electric kept going on and off, as did the alarm. What little bit of the museum that I got to see was amazingly beautiful. I only got to stay at the museum for a little bit, because they were closing the museum at the time. The staff allowed me to stay inside with them long enough for the storm to finish blowing through. I hope to come back to visit again soon, because I would really like to get to go through the museum to see it in its entirety.

I spent about 2 hours here with my kids on a Sunday and they had a good time…read more The main floor has a water table area that the kids loved, a music room and an area to learn about your body. The body area had some sport activities that the kids enjoyed interacting with. The lower level had a travel wild kratts exhibit that we did not spend much time at, the climbing area, and an interactive city where we spent most of our time. On the top floor there is an art museum with some hands on play area for the kids. They also were able to paint with water colors. Parking was across the street from the building so easy to get to. They did have a cafe but the food was mediocre. I recommend eating before or after your trip.

On a day trip to Charleston WV we stopped by the Clay Center for our daughter. First I always judge…read morethe bathrooms as this is a perfect example of how clean a place is. They have male and female but always love to see a family bathroom so I am not fighting for my life when my kid needs to potty. It was very clean and well kept but we did go as soon as they opened. 5 out of 5 This place is 3 stories tall they do have different options stairs and 2 different elevators to help anyone explore all locations. Play options: They have a waterworks the roof does leak but they have over covers for kids to protect their clothing over all a nice water station. 3.5 out of 5 Outer space was quite lackluster and not very play forward more informative 2 out of 5 One place we loved and spent most of our time was the interactive village too cute!!! Vet, Dr, theater, mechanic, grocery store, garden, fire pit, and so much more this is by far the highlight! 5 out of 5 They did have an open and active maker space with many different options for crafts! 5 out of 5 They do have a cafe with options of food you can buy so you can play longer. 5 out of 5 The front desk was so kind and very helpful with any questions we may have had. But I wasn't sure about parking if it was free or if we had to pay. When calling back I didn't get an answer. 3 out of 5 Last but not least the price for 2 kids and 3 adults total was under $60 and when leaving for lunch we could came back to play some more. So with that it was very worth the money! 5 out of 5 Over all experience: 4 out of 5

I went home for Christmas and took my great nieces and nephews to the Highland Museum & Discovery…read moreCenter. This museum wasn't open when I lived in the area, so I was excited to check it out. We first walked through the section of country music artists from Kentucky. Some popular ones on exhibit included the Judd's, Loretta Lynn and Billy Ray Cyrus. We learned about the early civilization of native Americans in Kentucky. There was a Kentucky clothes exhibit that dated pretty far back and up through the 80's. Then we checked out the basement, which was a total kid's zone. They loved it! There was a McDonald's, an old phone booth, dark tunnels for exploring. They all loved the boat cockpit which included all the controlles. There was a front porch with a swing. A puppet area and even an old piano. I was impressed with the museum. We went in December, and there were lots of beautiful Christmas trees and ginger bread houses on display in the atrium that were created and donated by local businesses. There was an area for the kids to write letters to Santa. This is a perfect place for kids to learn and play. And yes, the adults can learn too;)

What a cool place in the middle of ....Ashland?!?! Not far from WV in Ashland, KY lies this place…read more It is where my children got to be: astronauts, tree huggers, scientists, supermarket clark, bankers, archaeologists, and a McDonald's cashier. By looking through the front window, you would never know that this place has a bottom floor filled with a ton of things that will help a child's mind run wild with creative ideas. Some of the local schools and companies donated towards this project and it is great. My favorite part was the space shuttle area where we could talk into microphones and make our voices sound different. I was talking from the "headquarters" and my children were responding from the space shuttle in space. They loved digging for the dinosaur bones too in the rubber pit (which is very shallow--maybe 4 inches deep). So with every great experience, I like to point out something that needs improvement. For this place, the bathrooms need to be updated/worked on/fixed. In the men's room the toilet was broken (not that I went in there). In the woman's bathroom, 1 stall was out of order and the other toilet leaked from the base when you flushed it. This is gross! On the main floor of the building they had some Christmas trees displayed and well as a gingerbread house contact. Oh, they also have this amazing sound wall where you touch the different shapes in order to make different noises. They also have a country music exhibit. Who knew that my man, Billy Ray, shook his achy breaky heart in this town. same with the Judd's. I wonder if this is where Miley comes to visit too. Anyways, when you have nothing to do when visiting this area...now you do!

This place is a great stop for information and souvenirs! There are tons of foot and hand casts,…read morestories, and all big foot gifts for family and friends! They even have a reading room in the back where you can cozy up on the couch with a book.

The diminutive but fun West Virginia Bigfoot Museum isn't always open, so check the days of…read moreoperation. It's a small museum tucked away, part of a space that also has a cafe and a gift shop. And admission is free. The Bigfoot Museum itself is probably about 1/3 museum (photos of Bigfoot, some information, copies of reliefs of footprints, charts, and so forth) and 2/3 Bigfoot paraphernalia and gifts, t-shirts and knick-knacks, all done in good fun. I don't know that Bigfoot has actually been sighted in WV, but with all the cryptids in the area, who cares? It's all part of the fun. And if you are into cryptids, you're in luck since the Flatwoods Monster Museum is a block away. Even better, the cafe in the same space is super friendly and serves things such as mini-pepperoni rolls with marinara sauce. How can you go wrong?