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With Wes being a researcher and Carmella and educator it’s only natural that we gravitate to whatever museum is in the towns we’re visiting. Art, natural history, sports, whatever. Museums are no longer the musty attics they once were. The exhibits come alive. And we never tire of them. Here are some of our favorites.
Philadelphia and Region
 We belong to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and visit three or four times per year. Most of our visitors just want to go to the museum to “see the steps that Rocky ran up.” Sigh. We have yet to visit the Rodin museum, but that is definitely in the works. The Brandywine River Museum features the art of the Wyeth family as well as other illustrators and is in a lovely setting in Chadd’s Ford, PA. The Atwater Kent museum in downtown Philadelphia has a large selection of Norman Rockwell’s work on display as well as some quirky rotating exhibits. Wes’s dad enjoyed Northlandz, a labor of love by a model train enthusiast. Less of a museum than an enormous train layout, it’s a diverting trip. Doylestown in Bucks County, PA, offers two unique museums: The Mercer, devoted to 19th century farm equipment and the early American way of life; and the Michener, an art museum dedicated to preserving the heritage of the Bucks County region.
Washington
 We’ve been to all the ones on the mall, and try to keep current on displays at the main art museums and other main venues. We also enjoyed the Folger Shakespeare Library where the guides know their Shakespeare, and the replica of the Globe Theater is worth the visit. The National Building Museum gives a fresh look at architecture. The tour of Woodrow Wilson’s house near Dupont Circle was one of the most thorough tours we’ve ever been on. Next to the Capital City Brewpub near Union Station is the Postal Museum. The Phillip’s Gallery is one of the city’s more pleasant art museums, and is near the Wilson House. Also nearby is the Textile Museum with fabrics and rugs from around the world. A new addition is the International Spy Museum which offers a fascinating history of espionage.
Chicago
Chicago has some of the world’s great museums: The Art Institute of Chicago the Field and the Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Carmella is a big fan of Mary Cassatt, and the Chicago museum features several, including this one:
 The Field’s crowning piece is Sue, the dinosaur. Our favorite museum in Chicago, though, was the Broadcasting Museum featuring the Radio Hall of Fame. It was great to stroll past the exhibits and even listen to some old broadcasts of Don McNeal’s Breakfast Club, Jack Benny, and others. The Kid’s Show Host exhibit displayed Bozo costumes, Kukla Fran & Ollie and others.
Boston
The Boston area’s Museum of Fine Arts has even more Cassatt so Carmella really enjoyed the trip. We also took a side trip to the Kennedy Library, which proved educational.
SPORTS and Other Stuff
Cooperstown, NY, is home to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which even Carmella had to admit was fascinating. It is a tour of American history through the sport of baseball. After a surfeit of baseball we took a ride out of town to the Farmer’s Museum on Lake Road; a working farm since 1813 and once owned by James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Deerslayer, Last of the Mohicans, etc. The farm is a 20-building, pre-Civil War village. Across the street is the Fenimore House Museum, featuring American photography, Cooper memorabilia and other artwork. Also, stay or at least pay a visit to the Otesega hotel. It’s a 19th century throwback. 
We made a special trip to my old homestead in Oklahoma City a few years ago, and while there visited the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. This is definitely worth the trip. In the 1950’s Wes’s family took weekend trips to visit his grandmother in Eastern Oklahoma and passing through one of the small towns, Henryetta, was a huge billboard proclaiming it to be the home of Jim Shoulders, World Champion Cowboy. These things leave an impression, so it was a thrill to see Jim’s plaque in the Hall of Fame. We both got a kick out of the John Wayne, Roy Rogers and other ‘cowboy’ celebrity paintings. Tacky but still part of the myth of the American West.
In Newport, Rhode Island, is the Tennis Hall of Fame. We went there as a diversion and spent most of the morning walking through the exhibits, multimedia presentations, and walking along the outdoor stadium courts. It’s actually worth a visit.
On a trip to Ft. Lauderdale we visited the Swimming Hall of Fame.  Well... it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, one of the disturbing wax figures at the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Our Home
 We can unfortunately only afford prints. Carmella has a couple of Cassatt’s in the bedroom (sounds kind of kinky). Our favorite living artist is G. Harvey, who specializes in the Texas/Oklahoma cowboy genre. He is a talented impressionist. Turning the Lead hangs over Wes’s desk and features a longhorn stampede in a thunderstorm with the cowboy expertly attempting the keep the lead steer out of trouble. Evening with the President hangs above our fireplace; a still, snowy evening in 19th century Washington with a warm glow of gaslight in the background. Sante Fe - End of the Trail shows weary travelers leaving an evening stage on snow-covered streets. Again, gaslight warms the setting. This hangs in our home office.
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cility. We hold a strong opinion that in terms of musical enjoyment, as far as composers are concerned, the ‘deader the better.’ If they are actually decomposing, this is a good thing. Atonality is not our cup of tea. We think it’s fine for incidental music in a horror picture, but please keep it out of the symphony hall and chamber series. Speaking of which, Philadelphia has one of the best 
Ohio) was acting, so we love to attend live performances. While we get to New York at least once per year for a revival or something current, and attend the local Philly road shows (at the 
group rarely fails to put on a very good show. They offer original comedies and drama, all well staged, well directed and well acted. The theater only holds about 200, so you are right there with the action.