Super fun. Wasn't expecting straight-up joy from a "museum" but it was a hit for me, my teen and my…read more92-year-old dad. Lots of machines to choose from, with descriptors and convenient cup holders. Our only caveat, according to my 13yo: "They should have a more advanced card-to-coin machine or card readers on the pinball machines." Agreed--tho it wld put a crimp in the old-timely mystique. I rarely carry cash and I didn't see anywhere in advance (maybe I missed it?) that I needed singles or fives instead of a credit card to get quarters... So come prepared. They do have an ATM machine. (I don't have an ATM card these days, and my debit card wouldn't work.) Next time we'll bring the jingle. PS: There are a few pool tables, too--quarters only.

i used to frequent Sparks about a decade ago -- then i fazed out of pinball a bit and moved out of…read morethe area (i mean.. only 20ish miles, but still. i'm a pud.) i recently went back with my renewed love of pinball and had a good time ... for the most part. some of the machines were quick to gulp up quarters (note: put one in at a time and make sure it registers), a few were beat up to the point of being pretty unplayable, a good number have ZERO ball save which is rough on newcomers... i was kind of bummed in a sense. especially considering the owner of these machines (who's a great guy, don't get me wrong) claims to enjoy fixing them up more than playing them. well, i play 'em, and so you know... some are a bit wonky! truly, that can be part of the fun and mystique of pinball though -- except the eating quarters thing. fuck that. anyway my favorite part about Sparks now is that Mike has a slew of new Stern pins that are Insider Connected, so you can track your progress -- i'm always a fan of that. plus, the truth is, newer really is better in the world of pinball. i've always loved many machines from the late 80s and throughout the 90s, but most of the new machines being put out now are just incredible and i appreciate Sparks having about 8 machines from 2015ish to today. all in all, i enjoy it here, and it wouldn't feel quite right without dropping $6 for a 32oz draft of labatt poured into a haggard and microplastic ladened mug. which reminds me -- a drink and a half. that's the sweet spot for getting loose and doing well on a machine. happy pinning!

I see the staff say good morning every morning on the news and finally got to visit on a field…read moretrip. I was with the littles, young elementary school aged kids, and they absolutely had the best time. This place was adorable, packed with so much for young kids to touch, see, experience, play with and play on and we were able to get through and do most of it. They loved the tree, the camp site, the plane, the kitchen, the waterfall area, the bunk beds, the fish, and fishing simulation, the driving simulations, this was a magical place for them. Since we had limited time and a big group, I did not get a chance to try the driving experiences, but it is only $5 admission. The only thing I wish they would have as a parent, and maybe this feasible for them would be to have a cafeteria where they actually sold food and drinks. You have to bring your own food and if you have a water bottle, they put it away for you since nothing is allowed on the attractions.

We love the Outdoor Adventure Center! We visit once a week when they open, which keeps my…read more2.5-year-old entertained and active. It can get busy with school field trips, so we prefer going early. There's a cafeteria, so you can pack a lunch and eat there, though they only sell a few snacks in the gift shop. We have a membership, and it's definitely worth it! Highly recommend this place!

I brought my almost 4 year old granddaughter here recently. They have a toddler area and a Kids…read moreTown area. The Kids Town area was her favorite with water activities and some interactive exhibits. The toddler area was ok, with some large building blocks and a few other things that she enjoyed. The motion gallery and several exhibits were non-functioning, but for a 4 year old it didn't matter, but it would to older kids. The colorful escalator, the numbers hopscotch and even the small scale Mackinac Bridge were a hit. She LOVED the science show with the gases, fire and exploding balloons although she covered her ears for the 'booms'. Pricing is outrageous I think - $69 for 2 adults and a toddler. What?! I can go to the Outdoor Adventure Center for $5 a head (senior price), and $5 for her. The Nature Center on Belle Isle is FREE. Parking is free but limited, I got the last spot, my bf who met me there had to find street parking. The gift shop was nice and of course on the way out so we ended up with a stuffed animal and some mystery sand adding another $20 to my bill, so $89 for a 2.5 hour visit. OUCH.

What an awesome museum for kids to explore and learn! We had free tickets to come visit and check…read morethis place out and we were not disappointed. The kids were free because they are 2 as well. The parking in the lot next to it was $8 and its gated so it felt really safe. They have a ramp if you have a stroller. They offer stroller parking too. We walked around the main floor and checked out the exhibits. Then we went to the lower level and played in the kids area. The kids loved it. They do clean 12:30pm to 1:00pm. We were able to play for an hour. They loved the water section. There was dancing fruit in one of the rooms and my son was dancing a lot. Another room had soccer balls that he was throwing. They had a pretend kitchen area and a seated area with magnetic blocks. My kids did not want to leave. When we walked out they had a demonstration at the science stage at 12:30pm about fire. That was really cool. They also have IMAX theatre shows. We did not want to participate in that because our kids would just scream. We did go to the dinosaur exhibit on the third floor as well. Overall, it is a nice, clean, and fun museum for kids. We will definitely be back!

Located within Belle Isle Park,this is the oldest aquarium in the United States. Opened in…read more1904,this historic venue features freshwater and marine fish. The building features a unique green tile ceiling which is worth a visit just to see it! Admission is free but a 5.00 donation is suggested. A typical visit lasts 15-30 minutes. Parking is free.

Small, clean, renovated aquarium in a building that was erected in 1904…read more Basically, you walk down one side of a long corridor with several fish tanks and descriptive signs - then return on the other side with the same sort of tanks and signs. Takes less than a half-hour. Clean and well-maintained.

This place has many different locations inside the campus…read more This was my first time visiting the planetarium. OMG the mineral exhibit is spectacular. Please make it a point to check them out online and in person the events hosted has a wonderful selection and the people attending are so nice.

This is an amazing space! There is a lot more to see and do that. I did not show, but this is a…read moreperfect place to take children (and adults) who love science. There are different exhibits with varying levels of hands on experiences. Check their website for days and hours I also found out they have a "Free First Friday" experience each month.

My friend recommended coming here on a Saturday to see what this place was all about. While I'm not…read morea death person, it was interesting to say the least. Admission is $10 to get in, and they have two wild looking hearses in the parking lot. The museum is small, but has lots of different stuff to look at. They have actual human bones and skulls, coffins, and lots of mortuary tools from different time periods. It was quite interesting to look at and the owner, who also greeted us when we walked in, told us all about his collection. I believe he said he was also a mortician? He was very knowledgeable and personable. I wouldn't call it a gift shop at the front of the store, but they do have several different types of things for sale like t-shirts, incense, and other interesting artifacts. Overall a very unique experience, and the owner is very insightful and full of knowledge.

This place was a nice surprise for me. I'm shocked that they've been here five years and I only…read morejust this past week found out about them. The owner is extremely friendly and has an apparent deep passion for his collection. Having everything carefully labeled with an accompanying booklet was a very nice touch . The lighting and music was appropriately spooky and made the visit even more enjoyable. On busier day so I suspect parking may be an issue, but it wasn't a problem for us. I went through the collection about two or three times and kept noticing new things I hadn't seen before. Altogether I think we spent about an hour and enjoyed every minute of it. We will certainly consider coming back someday.

Absolutely amazing trip to the Henry Ford museum! I thought it might be all about cars, but it…read moreisn't -- it's SO much more! The docents are friendly and knowledgeable. Every part of the museum is well-curated, clean, and fascinating. I wanted to try the little old-school diner car inside the museum, but it closed right before we went to eat (that was my fault, but note it closes at 3pm.) However the other cafe was nice for a cookie and coffee break! The special exhibit on fabrics was OUTSTANDING. I love how it was approached through a historical lens of both fabric innovation and fashion together. The variety of time periods and examples blew my mind. Seriously well done and I've been to a lot of museums around the world. This exhibit alone is one of the best I've seen. We spent the better part of a day just inside the museum. We will be making another trip for the outdoor historic village because it looks awesome, too. Can't believe it took me my whole life to visit. Shame on me. Don't be like me. Go visit this amazing place!

Ignoring the price - this is a pretty good museum. I do wish we have more time so that we could…read moreexplore the outdoor village area (additional $$$). We should've bought the ticket online to save $8. One thing I did not expect was having to pay for parking. They don't charge at the parking lot. Instead, they ask you if you got dropped off or if you parked. If you drove, that's an additional $10. The indoor museum was about $40. If we wanted the outdoor portion, that's another $40...so yeah; this is probably more worth if you have 5 hours to spend here. We had 2 hours, and we rushed through the indoor museum - did not get many chances to read through/watch the video at each exhibit. 2.5 hrs would prob be enough. I did really enjoy the short bit of history I learned from the Rosa park bus exhibition. The lady there was really good at telling the history/sequence of event. The trains, president cars, airplanes, race car, etc were all very cool to admire - and I'm not much of a car person.

I visited the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House with my parents this past weekend, and we had an amazing…read morevisit. The home was built by/for Edsel and Eleanor Ford (Edsel was the son of Henry Ford), completed in 1928. It's a historic house, but the property offers so much more than, too. The house was designed by famed Detroit architect Albert Kahn (earlier in the day, we had walked by a past a mural that read "We Kahn Do It" - that's how famous Albert Kahn is in Detroit). It is an example of the English Cotswold style of architecture, and Kahn and the Fords found and purchased pieces from historic English home (antique wood paneling, fireplaces, stained glass, etc.). The home is incredible. There are several ways to enjoy the property. You can purchase grounds admission only to walk and explore the grounds. You can also purchase a self-guided tour or guided tour of the home, both of which include grounds access. We did the guided tour, and I'm glad we did. We learned a lot about the Fords, the home, their art collection (the home has some originals and some copies - the originals of which have since been gifted to the DIA or other museums), and more. Our tour guide was lovely - informative and friendly. Our tour was for a late Friday afternoon, so we were a total of 5 (2 people in addition to my family group). After our guided tour, we wandered around the grounds a bit. There are incredible views of Lake St. Clair, sculptures, a swimming pool, a lagoon, the children's playhouse, a power house, and more. The property isn't huge, but there is a shuttle that will take you from the visitor center to the house, if you need a lift. The visitor center is beautiful and offers some exhibition space, a beautiful restaurant where saw lots of people enjoying a meal or some wine (The Continental), a grab and go option for people without time for a meal (Speedster), and a very nice giftshop. I had only been to Detroit once before, and I didn't get a chance to visit the Grosse Pointe area of the city last time. The house is in Grosse Pointe Shores, and I even loved the drive out to the house - you pass such beautiful homes (mansions?)! We had a wonderful visit at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House. I highly recommend it if you're interested in neo-English architecture, historic homes, the Ford family... or if you just want to visit somewhere incredibly beautiful within 20 minutes of downtown Detroit!

This place was awesome. I had never visited before, but my husband and I took a tour today of the…read moremain house. Tours are $20 and you're welcome to walk the grounds after, plus stop by the Playhouse (tiny house that was for the Ford's 7-year-old granddaughter) and the garage, where five antique vehicles are housed. The tour lasts an hour, our tour guide was Dan and he was great. My husband works for Ford so I thought he'd find the tour interesting, too. There's another tour, called Nooks and Crannies, that dives deeper into the house and it's history, and I'd like to take that one next. The grounds themselves are beautiful and there is a lot to see, including the displays in the Visitors Center, Bird Island, and the places I mentioned above. The Visitors Center also has a gift shop. I've heard they do concerts here in the summer, and I saw on Instagram that they will have a butterfly house, too, so I'll have to come back another time for that. Overall, I really enjoyed Ford House and hope to come back for the other tour at some point too.

It's only open on Saturdays for a few hours. Run by volunteers that are pretty passionate about the…read morecollection here, which is actually very large, and are a good representation and history of ice harvesting, ice delivery, milk delivery, refrigeration, and some ephemera from Knowlton's collection of stuff, like some very well kept older cars, a Twin Pines dairy truck, old ice delivery wagons, and local Port Huron photos and artifacts. There's a doll room too, which is creepy and doesn't fit the theme, but I'm sure some folks will enjoy it. For five dollars, you can't go wrong. It was interesting, the volunteers were very friendly and informative, and there's a ton to look at and learn.

Located in a nondescript warehouse on a side street off Mound road, you will find one of the most…read moreimpressive collections of GM vehicles anywhere in the world if you know where to look. The only clue as to what is inside in a small sign in the lawn emblazoned with the GM logo - which I suspect is deliberate to throw off snoopers. If you love automobiles, the GM Heritage Center is a bucket list worthy destination. A rotating collection of over 700 historic, groundbreaking and innovative vehicles are on display here. Over 160 vehicles are on display at any given time and vehicles are swapped out several times a year I'm told. Chevrolet, Pontiac, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Buick, GMC and even Holden were represented here during my visit. There is also a nice collection of historical memorabilia from GM Design as well as a lot of historically significant engines on display. There is no touching or sitting but, you can get right up and peek in the windows of most cars - no velvet ropes! As the name suggests, this isn't a museum but a private collection. As such, the collection isn't open to the general public but it is able to be reserved for groups. It's surprisingly affordable when you consider that what's in the collection cannot be seen anywhere else, ever - and is probably easily valued in excess of 100 million dollars. No rambling review I could write would ever be able to do this place justice so, just do yourself a favor and get a group together and come down here. If you need a +1 hit me up, I'd go back again in a second!

A place in dream for car lovers!…read more GM opens it for employee for free once a year, and they can bring in family and friends. If you have friends work for GM, let them remember to bring you in for the open house. Many of the cars display here are priceless. You can see the cars GM build from 1902! Some of the cars you may rarely see in the US as well. Many concept cars GM developed in the past. Very interesting place. They also have a section with all sorts of engine displayed. Posters from the past. Great place for a family trip.