Gosh - who over a certain age hasn't heard of Moog Synthesizers? How many of them have actually…read moregotten to play around with one? It was a kick to go there, learn about them, then actually connect modules and twiddle with dials? It was a kick. And seeing Theremins also - most people haven't heard of them, but I have, and loved trying my hand at it. Or rather, both hands.

This was a great experience! I highly recommend it to anyone visiting or living in Asheville for…read morepeople of all ages. Learn all about Moog synthesizers and the history of Bob Moog in a fun, interactive setting. Admission was rather cheap for the value of the experience. They also sell CDs, hats, stickers, postcards, etc. Expect to spend between 45mins to 1 hour inside.

I love gemstones so getting to see where the only emeralds in America are found was so incredible…read more The mines here were originally owned by Tiffany's. You can explore a mini mine replica where it has different mining machines once used in the mines. Along with this you can learn about other gemstones and my favorite part which is getting to search and sift through your own gemstone sandbag. They also have a large shopping selection. They can turn stones you find while sifting through your sandbag into cut gemstones and jewelry pieces. Very cool experience!

Emerald Village is located in Spruce Pine, NC. It is a hidden gem that I highly recommend visiting…read more The campus is large so you can visit some attractions or all. I opted to tour the mine, visit the country store, visit the museum, and mine gems. Besides the mine, there were extra exhibits in the building. One was about the mine and the other on tobacco. At one point there were 12 mines. The tour is of the Bon Ami Mine. Some of this is accessible but to get down to the mine there are railroad ties used for stairs. The portion of the mine with the tour has everything labeled so you can read about it as you go. You just go to the top portion of the mine so it isn't claustrophobic. I was worried about that. Just watch your step as the railroad tracks are still there. They are easy enough to step over or go around but if you aren't paying attention could trip. You can enjoy the views and waterfall while learning about the mine and seeing the equipment. I liked that they had some storyboards and the small building to see the rocks with the black light. It was a unique museum to learn about mining. The country store was nice with the history of the medical office, post office and store replicas. The mill building had exhibits on twelve levels. A model railway exhibit, music room, black light room to see minerals. The only way to see this building was by stairs. This was the only part I didn't really care for but did enjoy parts of it. I did the gem bucket from McKinney Mine. It was a large bucket so after I got a feel for it, I gave the rest of the bucket to some kids nearby. A nice perk is they offer wifi to guests as I lost service in the remote location. So that helped me get to my next destination. I also liked ow well the attraction was marked and labeled so you knew where everything was.

Fun place to go with unlimited play for 1 price. The staff is very friendly and a nice variety of…read moregames to play.

Reasonably priced, and friendly service!!…read more I was able to start a tab so I could add drinks and chips onto my entry. Sodas and potato chips were only $1 each, so it was a reasonable snack. You pay for a wristband and get unlimited pinball games for the entire day. With in and out privilages. They have sooo many pinball games, ranging from vintage to new. They also have several video games including pac-man, donkey kong etc. My kids and I loved this place, we had a lot of fun playing for hours!

This place is soooooooo cute & so much to do for the little ones. Great admission price & near lots…read moreof things around. We recently moved from the RDU area to asheville and I will be bringing my son here as he loved it so much.

It was so much fun! Star show was awesome there were so many different costumes and puppets!…read moreLittle ones loved the apple orchard and the star show while the older kids can have fun with the shopping, hurricane simulator, and car building. We had so much fun and we definitely recommend it for all ages!

We had such a great time and ended up picking up the base ticket that includes: Gravitational…read moreAnomaly, Hall of Mystery, Bubblerama, Native American Artifacts, 2903 Dougherty House & Farmyard, Rodeo Rampage Bull Ride Challenge. It is a really cool place to visit, walking in that gravitational anomaly room is the weirdest sensation I've ever felt, but it is something cool to experience. In the hall of mystery, we literally let our inner child just wander around. And sadly we weren't able to do the bull ride, because of timing. For sure it is a place where you can spend your day in there. They're very hospitable and our tour guide was very funny.

A pretty fun straightforward diversion good for rounding out an afternoon in Blowing Rock. I ended…read moreup coming here on a day trip weekend getaway. I'm originally from Michigan and grew up pretty close to the Mystery Spot in the Upper Peninsula, so I was somewhat familiar with this sort of place. I ended up checking out the "gravitational anomaly" room along with the "Hall of Mysteries" but none of the other stuff. There was also Axe Throwing and some sort of Native American History Museum but didn't see those as I was somewhat pressed for time. There was also somewhat randomly a huge obscure soda collection which was kind of cool. And they also had Vernors which as a former Michigander I appreciated. The "gravitational anomaly " room was pretty cool and is obviously the main focus of this place. There were a few demonstrative tools like a water flow demonstration, a rubber ball on a track that apparently defies gravity and a swingset. The room itself isn't too large and those three things were the only "tools" in there but goofing around in the room on your own is plenty entertaining as you can see from the attached pictures. Beyond that the "Hall of Mysteries" was basically a small section of optical illusions and science demonstrations which was interesting enough but something probably more interesting to and suited to kids. Overall the place is cool but kind of feels like it doesn't know what it's trying to be beyond the "gravity room" and feels like it could use a little update and some more focused development/presentation. If you haven't been before it's probably worth experiencing at least once if you're going to be in the area and have time for it. They also have a Zoltar machine, which is always a plus in my book.

Nice small historic place to visit. Only $8 for adults. Pretty cool to see what you've only read…read moreabout in history books. Interesting and Amazing to see how life was all that long ago. And they even do reenactments at different times of the year. Our teen enjoyed it.

Located on the grounds of Horn in the West, we had a bit of time before the show began that we…read morewalked thru this Living History Museum. Reanactors and historians talk about everyday life from the mid 1700s to the early 1900s. There are demonstrations on weaving, blacksmithing, candlestick making, and smokehouse cooking, on site. Things were just winding down for the day as we walked thru so we missed all of that, but did get a bit of history lesson in how the phrase: "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" came about as we went in one log home and listened to a docent tell the origins of this phrase. The general area and buildings seemed a bit run down. Overall a nice little detour, as we walked to the Horn of the West.

The Asheville art museum was hosting "Community Days" so there was not an entrance fee. Normally it…read moreis $20, so reasonable and well worth the price. It isn't a huge museum but there was a wide variety of art to be inspired by. Contemporary, impressionism, sculpture and so much more. There is also a wonderful area just for young people to make their own art, relax, read and play!! More museums need spaces like this! I was especially impressed with the gallery showing art made by the local high schools and middle schools.

I visited the art museum after lunch this afternoon. As an art lover, this is one of my fave solo…read moreactivities to do when I travel anywhere.