Very interesting tour. This house served many purposes in the community over the years! There are…read moresome interesting artifacts from the Schuyler Family.

Mansion where Alexander Hamilton Married Elizabeth Schuyler [Albany NY]…read more The Schuyler Mansion was less than a mile away from the USS Slater so if you can do both tours it's very much worth it to visit these two historic sites. Admission fee for the Schuyler Mansion is only $5. After we paid for the fees in the Visitors Center we caught up with the group that had just begun its tour. The mansion was the home of General Philip Schuyler, in command of the Northern Department Army during the American Revolution. It was explained to us that during the Revolutionary War his home was used for military meetings, political meetings (he was also a U.S. Senator), elegant parties, and family life. General Schuyler's property extended to a huge chunk of land in Albany but is now only reduced to just the brick mansion that is now a museum. Philip and Catherine Schuyler raised their family (eight children) in this house including hosting the wedding of their daughter Elizabeth to Alexander Hamilton in 1780. We viewed the Yellow Parlor Room, Library, Best Parlor Room, and the Dining Room. Our tour guide was very informative. Most of the tour was held on the first floor, where the family held public and private gatherings. Interesting tour too if you're a fan of the musical, Hamilton. They are only open Fri-Sun each week. We were lucky to visit the mansion during its open season and on the day of the week that we were in Albany. The Schuyler House has just opened for 2023 last month on Fri, May 26th and will be operating through Sun, Oct 15, 2023. Review #3015

The staff here were pleasant, kind and helpful. We came for a Saturday night light show in the…read moreplanetarium. About 45 minutes long, a good time you can't beat it. A few jokes from the ticket-taker as well. Tip: try and grab the seats toward the back, to keep your neck more comfortable. We arrived ~15 minutes before start time and were able to peruse around the different displays and interactive exhibits. A place for all ages. This was a nice indoor activity to get out of the house and not be in the frigid cold.

Visited the planetarium to see James Hood's "Beautifica" on date night, the event itself was a…read morewonderful visual meditative experience! The building itself could definitely use some updating (the bathroom is kind of falling apart). The staff were super friendly! True to brand we showed up late and the show had already started, but staff were kind enough to sneak us into our seats without disrupting everyone else's experience. I look forward to going back here to see the rest of the museum!

We visited this museum after visiting the NY State Museum. The gentleman at the reception was…read morepleasant and friendly. Entrance fee was reasonable. As someone who frequents museums wherever we go, I can only give this one three stars. I guess I was expecting more and better quality paintings especially that it's the state capital's art museum. Not to be nit picky but our museum (City of Portland, Maine) has much more interesting pieces. Still glad we went. Happy to support arts and culture.

Friendly staff. I have been in larger museums that were free (in both smaller towns and in larger…read morecities) , so the $12 price per adult was a bit of a heftier price than we hoped for - along with it being a slightly smaller museum. Also disappointed they didn't provide a map of the building/exhibits (I took a photo to help us navigate a little bit. My spouse did particularly like the Hudson River School paintings.

It was great when it WAS here!…read more This must be very out of date as Van Gogh exhibit closed more than a year ago!

I don't know who put this all together, but it was a genius move. Spectacular way to display Van…read moreGoghs work, even if you don't know another about him, you will get all you need heretic room where everything definitely wakes up is so beautiful, and the VR was really cool too. Look up the immersive experience in your town and go!!!

It's odd going into an old mall to go to an aquarium, but this place was really cool. They setup…read morethe tanks by different areas of the world. Place was clean and not overly crowded. I'm really glad we went.

We made the 90 minute drive from Syracuse to check out the Via Aquarium in...Rotterdam? I didn't…read moreknow this existed until the day before we went, but I'm glad we found it! Repurposing an old mall's dead space into various shops and attractions seems to be the way of the future for malls like this and Via Aquarium is built into the bones of this mall in a really cool way. Instead of just sticking it inside of an old storefront, they really went all out by painting a huge mural outside the parking area for it as well as the long entry hallway into the mall that serves as the Aquarium entrance. Pricing was about what we expected, about $70 for 2 adults, 1 child, and the extra "manta ray feeding" we purchased. The Aquarium is clean and offers a lot of interesting exhibits that range from fish, reptiles, kids play areas, feeding areas, and a gift shop. If you are moving at a moderate pace, you could complete the museum in about 45-60 minutes, so don't plan on dedicating a whole day here. The highlights for us were the tunnels you walked through and underneath fish and sharks and the feeding of the manta rays. On the day we went, they had some arts and crafts for the littles along with a princess in full costume to greet the kids doing the craft (unicorn hat). While we wouldn't make it a regular visit, we'd make the trek again if we were in the mood for some aquatic ambience.

This little college museum is a great place to check out some small art collections. This place is…read morenot a huge museum, but it is nice for a quick stroll on a Tuesday night! I saw Tuesday because that is the night they are open the latest. I enjoyed my time here, I just wish that they had more to offer.

From the owner: The University Art Museum's mission is to advance knowledge and foster understanding in…read morecontemporary visual arts. The museum has presented over four hundred individual exhibitions in its 9,000 square foot facility, located in the Fine Arts building on the uptown University at Albany campus. A short list of representative exhibitions and projects includes work by: Xu Bing, Nina Bovasso, Phil Frost, Julie Heffernan, Kimsooja, William Pope.L, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Karin Sander, Jean Shin, John F. Simon, Jr. and Roman Singer. The musem is an integral part of the dynamic learning environment of the University at Albany. Over 13,000 visitors attend exhibitions and events each year. Public programs explore contemporary art and culture by presenting a combination of established voices and new perspectives in the arts. Guest speakers include artists, theorists, writers, and scholars engaged in the critical examination of issues that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures, and communities.

Ralf was our guide and it was very pleasurable he was very knowledgeable very upbeat and cheerful…read more He kept the tour moving and he answered all our questions intelligently. I was very pleased with the tour and I'm an ex Navy guy so that's saying something !

Only one remains afloat in America [Albany NY]…read more We learned so much from our docent, Caroline.. this is a guided tour inside the World War II destroyer escort. General admission was $10 each and lasted about an hour. There were 563 built during WWII and the USS Slater is the only destroyer escort left in the US. It has been restored to its original 1945 configuration. We were fortunate to learn about this national historic landmark. The first thing we learned was the history behind the name of the USS Slater (DE 766). The destroyer escort was named after Seaman Frank O. Slater. He was assigned to the USS San Francisco at Pearl Harbor and was killed when a Japanese torpedo bomber he had shot down crashed into his gun position. Instead of leaving his gun and trying to find a safe place for cover he stayed at his position continuously firing until the plane crashed his gun mount. The tour took us to the galley, officers and enlisted mess halls (btw, the officer mess hall doubled up as the operating room, there is a medicine cabinet by the wall), we viewed the chart room and the sonar room, captain's cabin, ship's office, signal bridge... we mounted ladders to get up and down between decks. These are steeper than stairs so it could be challenging for some. Overall, a very educational tour and I enjoyed it. A Destroyer Escort's main job is to defend naval task forces from Japanese submarines and Kamikaze air attacks in the Pacific. Review #3014