We had a lovely time at the Rose Valley Museum. The history in Pennsylvania is amazing and this is…read morejust the start of our exploration of history and culture in Delaware County and beyond. Also known as the Thunderbird Lodge, this was a community of artist who started with a leap of faith in 1904 with approximately 60 people and moved here from Paoli. They started a community of woodworking enthusiasts, artists, painters, writers etc.. and were very successful in the arts and crafts movement. The museum was opened in 2017 to the public and has been thriving ever since. The property is approximately laid across one acre of land. There is a wonderful gift shop with may artifacts from the eighteenths and nineteenths centuries, that you may purchase for yourself or others to enjoy for your own pleasure Please, if you live in Delaware County come experience the history of our community and give back to the ones that keep our history alive. There is a mere $10 donation collected at the door when you enter. Unfortunately, the building is not handicapped accessible due to the structure and the artifacts in the building, but this is a great place for couples, especially if you are planning to be in the area or families who want to come to visit and enjoy a day trip learning some historical history about our community. Thank you to the volunteers who were so knowledgeable about this project and extremely helpful to us.

The Rose Valley Museum has been around a little over a year now, but I just discovered it a couple…read moreweeks ago. When I took a look at their events and saw a whiskey & chocolate tasting, um, I was there! Admission is $10 for non-members, but with our $20 event, we got free admission to the museum. I'll explain the museum first, and the event we attended, below. The museum is housed in Thunderbird Lodge, designed by architect, Will Price, who was the father of the Rose Valley craftsmen guild at the beginning of the 20thC. The museum is primarily dedicated to this era in Rose Valley's history, however, there are Native American artifacts, remnants of RV's 18th/19thC. Quaker inhabitancy, and other facets of the borough's history, to learn about, as well. The interior of the lodge is gorgeous! Exposed beams, Arts & Crafts features everywhere, handmade EVERYTHING! Artfully laid fireplace stones, hand-hewn stair railings, leaded glass windows! There were handmade Moravian tiles wherever appropriate (Will Price was friends with Mercer). Just art everywhere! The main room you hit upon entry is where they hold events. Beyond there, you find a sitting room and dining room, arranged for use with original Rose Valley furniture, and period lamps, rugs, and decor, all either made by the original guild, or authentic to the period, and part of the Arts & Crafts style. I saw some Tiffany type lamps, but no Van Erp. Furniture was Stickley style, with a little more rusticism and character, IMO, which adds to the charm. I saw a lot of Art Nouveau pieces, especially in things like candlesticks, pottery, and smaller carved wood decorative objects. Tons of pottery was housed in china cabinets, and glass cases. The woodwork for the trim and built-ins around the lodge is high quality, and beautiful. They are currently restoring it back to its original form (for example, the dining room used to have a curved gold-leaf ceiling). Loads to see, especially if you admire this aesthetic. Since we were there for an evening event, there were various fireplaces roaring, adding so much to the ambiance, as well as candles, and parchment-shaded lamps. It was so cozy and inviting! Upstairs is another large room, which housed a more eclectic array of Rose Valley history. There is a small hand-carved totem pole, papier-mâché animal heads, an original guild worktable, antique train station sign for Moylan-Rose Valley, more original furniture pieces, Plein Air painting, portrait of Price, etc. If you are at all curious about the Arts & Crafts movement, they have truly captured a great feel for its flavor at this museum! ---------------------- Now, the event! I highly recommend trying one of their gatherings! The museum's board was there, and they run things, hands-on, like devoted hospitality ambassadors! They are all so welcoming and friendly. We seriously felt like we'd been invited to a 70-person dinner party, and had conversations with almost all of the board members. They were amazing hosts! Note that this event was sold out, and they had a waiting list, with people at the door hoping to get in. They allow you to sign up online, so if you see something you want, get it! Our tasting was four different rounds of whiskey drink, personally made up by a board member, who knows his stuff. Each round was paired with a chocolate from Shane Confectionery in Philly. Our aficionado announced each round with a fun story, and gave all the details of his ingredients' origins. Every table had ice and water if needed (not for me!). They even went around and offered everyone seconds, and sometimes thirds, on each round... I politely accepted a few of those. We got more than our money's worth, it was amazing! After the tasting, they had a full spread of hors d'oeuvres to help sober up, but, for those hoping to keep the party going, there was also a bar available. Everything was beautifully, tastefully done. I can't wait to try another event!

What a cool hidden gem in Valley Forge National Park! I took a tour of this museum in November…read more2025. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and intriguing as he guided us around the property and inside the home/studio. Esherick was extremely talented and it was incredible to see his stunning creations. Tips: The tour is inside and outside so dress accordingly. There are steps inside the building. Booking ahead is required and tour group counts are limited.

Visiting the Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern had been on my to do list for a while, but the…read moretours sell out, and I've missed out on visiting a couple of times! Last week, I planned a last minute day trip to the Philadelphia area and noticed that they had exactly four tickets still open on tours for the rest of the month and they were for the upcoming Saturday at 11am. It was a sign, and I jumped on buying those tickets. How to explain the Wharton Esherick Museum?! Wharton Esherick was an American artist and designer (he's best known for his modernist wood furniture), and - while not a trained architect - he designed this house and studio compound (of four separate buildings) in Malvern to live and work in. By the time he was adding a workshop to the compound in 1955, building codes had made their way into law and Esherick got help from none other than Louis Kahn to help design that building. So what will you see if you visit? Just an incredible home and studio. Esherick was not into straight lines or right angles or wasting perfectly good wood, so the house and studio is an amazing sight: that staircase! the wood floor in the dining room! the concrete extension painted in colors that blend into the natural surroundings! the art and furniture pieces of Esherick's shown throughout the house! It's a hard place to describe, but our tour guide did a marvelous job of teaching us about Esherick and the buildings during our tour, while sharing some woodworking facts and passion, too! Reservations for the tours are required, and they do sell out. Regularly. There's an exhibit on Esherick at the Brandywine right now, and that might be generating more interest than usual in seeing his home and studio - or maybe tours of this amazing place are always this popular?! We did the Experiencing Esherick Tour, which takes you into the home and studio building and lasts about an hour. They offer some specialized tours of more limited days as well - I will definitely be visiting again for the architecture tour which takes you into at least one additional building you don't see on the general tour! The house? Fascinating. Our tour guide? Lovely. The grounds? Beautiful even in December. And a lovely little gift shop in Esherick's old garage where you can do some holiday shopping? Bonus. What's not to love about the Wharton Esherick Museum? I know I'll be returning to bring friends and family to this wonderful place in the future.

Delaware County Institute of Science is a fun and free way to spend a few very intriguing hours in…read moreMedia. Located on Vererans Square, adjacent to the DelCo courthouse, DCIS has been around to fascinate and educate for centuries. The institute was founded in 1833, and our guide told us the taxidermy bobcat was one of the original specimens in the collection. It was a wonder to me that taxidermy can last this long!!! Parents, prepare for a lot of taxidermy, and a way to explain this to kids (ahead of time). My 7yo was upset to hear our guide's stories about how to shoot the game so they weren't a bloody mess for the taxidermist. Our guide was a very kind long time DelCo senior, who meant well, and was very apt with his detailed knowledge, but today's kids watch Wild Kratts and have very different politics! I explained that many years ago we didn't respect animals as we do now, and taxidermy like this was the way to learn for most people, who didn't have TV, nor even the books to educate themselves. The most appealing part of this collection was that my son could touch a lot of it! They invite you to touch a whale rib bone, a sawtooth tusk, pangolin scales, petrified wood, and so much more! This is super exciting for kids! I love the petrified wood myself! DCIS is very proud of their minerals collection. We missed that this visit because they are renovating the first floor this summer and it will not reopen until September. I am very excited to go back and see it! My son is too! DCIS guides will proudly tell you more than once that they house the largest seashell collection in the state. It is not only a large (prolific) collection, but a varied and diverse one as well. And, some of the specimens are the largest shells I've seen (outside of some mammoth man-eating monster shell in a major city museum). I don't have a picture of the cabinet with those exact shells (looked like cowrie and welk, but I forget exact names) but they were as big as my head! The museum is three floors, and the top two floors are basically the periphery of an old 19thC theater and stage, with balcony acting as second floor. So not much floor space for this huge collection. But you can easily spend HOURS looking at everything. If you are into this stuff like we are, you could definitely visit the entire day's open hours. The volunteer guides make things come alive too! In addition to SO MANY taxidermy specimens, minerals, fossils, and shells, there is petrified wood, native tribal carvings, a collection of milk bottles from local DelCo dairies, old pharmacy bottles, and detailed collections of technology through the last 2 centuries. I never knew there were not only 4-leaf clovers, but 5-, 6-, 7-, and even 8-leafers, a bunch all pressed in a frame!!! They also have a pressed leaf piece with foliage (Holly and boxwood) from George Washington's tomb surrounding an old lithograph of him. Just so much interesting stuff! I am sure there is even more we didn't get to see. They let my son have a free shell at the end (a small one downstairs, not a display piece ;-) which he loves. This was a great afternoon treat for us, and we can't wait to return when the mineral collection reopens in September. Tips -- Only open Thursdays 10-3 (sometimes only 10-1) Free parking is available in residential streets if you're willing to walk a few blocks. There is no A/C in summer except on the first floor. Be prepared for heat! The view from the free law library at the top of the courthouse across the street is well worth the few minutes to walk over for a side trip. Just ask a guard when you enter the courthouse how to get to the law library.

A fascinating nugget of history in downtown Media. Much more of a "Natural Sciences" museum than a…read moretechnology museum, it is a place where you are not afraid to reach out and touch some of the history of Delaware County.

1 star for adults and kids over 10…read more 2.5 stars for children under 10 This is a small museum. You can do the full loop in 15-20 minutes unless you have little little ones that get engrossed in one of the interactive stations. Not worthy of a field trip. If you really want a decent natural History museum, plan a day trip elsewhere.

It's considered traditional to celebrate Independence Day at a parade, or a barbecue, or a picnic,…read morefollowed by watching fireworks, right? Well, Lion and I must be non traditional folk, because we visited the Delaware Museum of Nature. It was wonderful. The museum is one of those place I've driven by so many times, thinking - hey, really should go there sometime. Just .... didn't. On a broiling hot 4th of July, when the last thing we wanted to do was barbecue or go to a parade, we saw it was open and decided this was our opportunity. Yay! We arrived to a mostly empty museum, with a group of volunteers and staff who were really great! Being in the museum without crowds was lively. I could spend as much or as little time as I wanted with an exhibit. Volunteers demonstrating various artifacts were friendly Jan helpful. We got to meet two different snakes, learn that turtles can actually move quite fast and can climb trees, and learned that after the passing of Dude, the Museum Cat, they gave a new cat in training. Rye exhibits were nicely curated. This museum is not expansive, however they use their space well, focusing on aspects of Delaware's ecology and history. There's a family/kid nature "lab" where people can explore hands in nature. Parking is free in their private lot. It's an open, airy space that is fully accessible. I think we may have started outrun own new tradition this year.

This is a small gem of a museum (...pun intended...) on the campus of the University of Delaware…read more It houses one of the best mineral, crystal, and gem collections in America...especially including the Irénée Du Pont collection. Much of the collection is displayed by the continent on which the minerals were found. Some of the crystals and gems on exhibit will totally wow you. So stop in for a look if you have a chance!

This is a really great little museum if you are into geology. Most people don't even know that…read moreit's there. It is located on the University of Delaware campus, and it is free. Most of the specimens are world class, and many were donated by Irénée du Pont, Sr. He started collecting them as a child, and some he purchased through Tiffany. There are donations from others as well. Exhibits include regional minerals, American and Canadian minerals, crystals, minerals from caves, and gems. This is the only museum I have ever visited where I was able to see everything in a few hours, but it really is fascinating.

Wilmington, DE - we visited several du Pont estates during our stay in the beautiful Brandywine…read moreValley area, starting with the Hagley Museum, which is the place of the first du Pont family home, built by the French immigrant ancestor who started it all, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont. We toured the house (Eleutherian Mills) and garden, powder yard, saw a small antique car exhibit, a gunpowder demonstration, and strolled around the grounds, which are very walkable and well-shaded in parts, but there is also a shuttle that travels between the main areas (visitor center/museum, house, powder yards) which runs every 20 minutes. The property is impeccably maintained and gorgeous to walk around, bordered by the Brandywine River where we saw some kayakers row by (for paddlers & outdoor enthusiasts: you can do this as an activity in the area). Everything was SO well-organized, and the tour guides & staff could not have been more lovely or helpful. They helped us time-manage our tours (as we arrived late in the day and were in a bit of a rush) and were generous with answering questions and sharing information about the history of the place and of the du Pont family. ======= TIP: If you love museums and historic homes & gardens and plan to visit at least a couple, the best thing you can do is purchase a Brandywine Treasure Trail Passport ($49 for individuals, or $99 for family including 2 adults & 3 children 17yo and under), which grants you admission to 12 area attractions that you can visit once any time between May 24-October 31. (This year is almost over but you can still buy the 2025 pass or wait for 2026 to be released.) There were many enterprising du Pont descendants/cousins, and the multiple grand estates in this area were built/owned by different branches of the family: in addition to Hagley there is also Winterthur, Nemours, Mt. Cuba Center, and Longwood Gardens - all of which are included in the passport. I find these properties to be more impressive than the Newport RI mansions, and highly recommend visiting as many as you can!

We did not have this museum on our radar until we learned about it when touring the nearby Nemour…read moreEstate. It helped that with our reciprocal museum membership we got free admission! It was already 2pm when we arrived so we had limited time. We walked the road to see the machine shop demo and the powder rolling demo by Bob. Both were quite interesting especially the big bang finish of the powder rolling demo. Learned a lot! Given it was late and way too hot to walk up the hill we skipped the house tour which looked interesting. We opted for the AC in the visitor center and the very educational two floor exhibit on patent models. Nerdy. Overall a big thumbs up for this museum.

Visited this museum during their free day (First Sunday of the month) to check out the exhibit for…read moreJerrell Gibbs: No Solace in the Shade. Such a beautiful space ! I can imagine weddings taking place in their courtyard area. The staff was helpful as it was my first time. It's a small but delightful museum, only three floors and the construction of the building itself is very compact and curved. It was great to see the river and the sun shining in through the large windows as you walk up to the top floor. The main exhibit was on the top floor and it was thoughtfully curated with black walls that made the artwork just pop! I was able to pick up a few art prints in their gift shop on the way out. Ample parking but in the free days can fill up fast. Definitely stop in if local or just visiting !

My friends and I spent a rainy afternoon at the Brandywine Museum of Art. Adult tickets were $20…read more We had no problem finding parking in their lot out front. It's a lovely space, it looks like it'd be a great spot for a wedding. There are three floors of art to explore here. Their special exhibit was on the third floor. My favorite exhibit to explore was the illustrators exhibit. I loved the storybook art. We spent over an hour exploring all the fine art here. It got packed by the end of our visit. They were also doing a tour of the grounds. They have a cafe and a huge gift shop here too.

this place is trippy af!…read more i ended up on a date here a few weeks ago and this was a really nice spot. the colorful and artsy nature makes this place a hellvua place if you are an adult over 21 who prefers to be..... under the influence -- of happiness and joyful experiences; or if you are compelled to imbibe in mind enhancing substances. i found this was not the best place for smaller kids. although i saw a lot of chicks with babies. some even in swaddlers -- like newborns. imo-- kids maybe 8 and up will really enjoy the colorful and cool nature of the rooms. i enjoyed the ability to touch everything and take the full experience. the rooms were way cool and the concept is really quite amazing. these large scale interactive pieces really made the exhibits quite fun! my favorite room was the hair room iykyk! all in all i really enjoyed the venue, the location was in a great spot and there was ample free parking. we stayed for about 4 hours which was plenty of time to take it all in! (for those who are wondering there was no 2nd date) purr.

A unique and fun experience! There is so much to see and interact with here. I recommend going…read morethrough more than once to make sure you see each room. Other World will bring out the kid in anyone.