Quirky Museums That Are Totally Worth a Visit

When you think of a museum, what comes to mind? Are you imagining dinosaur fossils and gemstones? Works of art painted or sculpted by the masters? Displays of historic weaponry and armor? Exhibits about cultures of the past, with examples of baskets, pottery, and tools? Maybe you're thinking of a museum dedicated to space travel or earlier forms of transportation. 

Or maybe you're thinking about potatoes. 

A museum does not have to address a big, important topic to be entertaining and educational. I have a special place in my heart for quirky museums and today I'll be sharing some of my favorites. 

Quirky Museums That You Should Definitely Visit

Idaho Potato Museum

A museum dedicated entirely to potatoes? Yep! And it's fabulous. Plan to eat in their cafe and don't skip the potato ice cream. 

National Mustard Museum

I don't particularly like mustard, but that didn't stop me from loving every minute at a museum focused entirely on this yellow condiment. The Mustard Museum was one of the highlights of that entire trip for me!

American Pigeon Museum

I knew very little about pigeons before visiting this museum. I left absolutely amazed by these fascinating birds! Pigeons are so cool. 

Red Wing Shoe Company Museum

When you get the chance to visit a museum boasting the world's largest boot, you go. It's the highlight of the Red Wing Shoe Company Museum, but there are plenty of other really interesting exhibits. 

Jelly Belly Museum

The Jelly Belly Museum is distinct from the Jelly Belly Factory Tour. Definitely do both. The museum goes into depth about the history and culture of Jelly Belly and has a lot of really interesting artifacts. 

National Museum of Roller Skating

This museum is jam-packed with artifacts and exhibits about roller skating. I learned so much! Roller skating is a fascinating mix of sport and cultural phenomenon. 

National Bobblehead Museum

This museum has over 10,000 bobbleheads covering all sorts of topics and genres. It is definitely something to experience! 

American Banjo Museum

I debated including this in a list of quirky museums because it's more specific than quirky. Ultimately, I decided to include it because it's such a great museum that the more I mention it, the better! No matter who you are, you'll learn a lot at the American Banjo Museum. 

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I'm always on the lookout for interesting museums to visit. I have a few on my to-do list, but if there's a place you know of that I definitely need to check out, let me know in the comments!

Quilting for Lutheran World Relief

In September, my church started making Mission Quilts for Lutheran World Relief. This is a new ministry for us at St. Mark's, but Lutheran World Relief has been sending quilts to people in need since it was founded in 1945. LWR provides an average of 300,000 quilts a year to be used as warm bedding, floor coverings, or simple tents following natural disaster or war.   

On Sunday, we dedicated 12 quilts lovingly made by our group. 

Church members and friends donated their extra fabric, which we cut and pieced together into quilt tops. Members of our group sewed the quilt tops together. (Not me - I'm terrible at machine sewing.) Then we layered the top over batting and the back and hand-tied the quilts together. (I'm good at hand sewing.)

Making these quilts has been very satisfying. Quilting is something I always wanted to try but figured I would probably never do. By working with a group, I can do the things I'm good at while others do the parts that aren't my strength. It's a lot of fun working and chatting with my fellow quilters, and it's wonderful seeing the random bits of castoff material come together to make a beautiful, functional quilt. We have decided to continue our ministry in 2025, so if you're local and have fabric or batting to donate, I'll gladly take it off your hands. 

Our quilts are boxed up and on their way to the LWR warehouse, to then be shipped to the area of greatest need. We hope they bring not only warmth, but comfort. 

Western Meadowlark Diamond Art Ornament

I liked my wood slice American Robin ornament so much that I made one for the Western Meadowlark. It is the state bird of Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming and is easily recognized by the black V-shaped bib on its yellow breast. Beautiful! 

As with the robin, you can make this with leftover drills from previous diamond art projects, buy a bunch of colors, or get just the colors that you need. I used a variety of greys to make my bird since that's what I had on hand. Affiliate links below. 

 

Western Meadowlark Diamond Art Ornament

Materials: 

• wood slice ornament
• DOTZ Stick diamond adhesive
• pattern (below)
• diamond art drills (8001, 8318, and a variety of greys - I used 8440, 8441, and 8444)
• dotting tools
• cornstarch / baby powder

Steps: 

Paint a thin coat of DOTZ Stick onto the wood slice, following the package directions. Don't use too much or the moisture can cause your ornament to crack. 

When the adhesive is ready, apply the drills. The stars on my pattern mark the center of each axis, so the plus sign is the center of the whole design. 

In order to center the meadowlark, put the center drill onto the center of the ornament. Then fill in the rest of the drills around that central one. 

Ordinarily, I'd suggest sealing your diamond art, but since these ornaments can crack with too much moisture, I wouldn't risk it. Instead, rub cornstarch or baby powder over the uncovered area of the wood. That will eliminate the tackiness of any extra adhesive not covered by drills. 

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Have you seen the Aububon Birds stuffed animals from Wild Republic that feature a realistic call? I love them! There are over 30 different birds. This is the Western Meadowlark. 

Interested in learning more? Read about the Western Meadowlark and hear its calls at Audubon.com. 

The Best Regional Sodas

I’m not much of a soda drinker. At home, I almost never drink soda and often go months without having any. I usually don’t have soda when we travel either… unless it’s something that isn't available back home. I can’t resist trying a local favorite, whether it's a food or a drink! Today I thought it would be fun to share the best regional sodas we tried during our travels to all 50 states. 

Faygo

Faygo is probably my favorite of all the sodas we've discovered on our travels. Every flavor we tried was delicious. I particularly loved Rock & Rye. Faygo is made in Detroit, which is where we found it. 

Foxon Park

My runner-up is Foxon Park. All three of us loved this Connecticut favorite and enjoyed it during our travels in the Constitution State. My favorite flavor is their lemon-lime classic, Gassosa. 

Ale-8-One

We were there on the wrong day for a tour, but we did visit the lobby of the  Ale-8-One factory when we were in Kentucky. Ale-8-One is lightly carbonated with a unique ginger citrus flavor that is memorable and absolutely delicious. 

Sprecher

Sprecher is a Wisconsin brand that we discovered during our time in Milwaukee. Their cream soda is fantastic and their root beer sensational. In fact, the New York Times named it Best Root Beer. 

Cheerwine

Cheerwine has been a beloved drink in North Carolina since 1917, which means it was 101 before we first tried it in 2018! Google tells me it's available to us locally now, but at the time it wasn't. I really enjoyed Cheerwine's cherry flavor - so refreshing on a hot day. 

That's my top five, but I do have to name a runner-up: Verners Ginger Soda. Like Faygo, it's also a Detroit brand. 

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I want to address the linguistic elephant in the room. I call any sweet, carbonated beverage “soda” but if you travel across the US you’ll hear it called “pop” or “coke.” Faygo, for example, calls itself pop. I'm fine with people calling it pop, but I'm not crazy about "coke" since Coke is a specific beverage and it's not like you can hear the capitalization in speech. Anyway, you may find this map, found at Pop Vs. Soda, interesting. I did. 

Have you enjoyed a regional soda? Agree or disagree with my choices? Let me know in the comments.

Ruizhi Pocket Watercolor Painting Book

I absolutely love the concept of a travel-friendly "paint with water" coloring book for kids. Unfortunately, the 1970's version from my childhood was usually disappointing: the paper was thin, tore easily, and dried slowly; the paints were barely pigmented; and the books themselves were not all that portable, especially when the paint was wet. Some were better than others, of course, but even the best ones were just OK.  

I haven't had too much experience with "paint with water" coloring books over the years, other than a few really, really cheap versions that showed up in party gift bags. So when I received a modern version (Pocket Watercolor Painting Book by Ruizhi) to do while I recovered from my surgery, I was excited to give it a try (affiliate link here and below). 

I'm happy to report that I recommend it! It's aimed toward kids 4-8, but it entertained me as a couch-bound 52-year old unable to use my usual coloring supplies. 

The book is indeed pocket-sized; each of the 20 finished pages is intended to be used as a bookmark. The paper quality is good and the paint itself is quite pigmented. I was able to blend the six colors somewhat to get more shades. The book is backed with very thick chipboard, which not only acts as a convenient surface to work on, but also has a recess in it where the paintbrush fits when you're not using it. Clever! 

Here are the first two bookmarks I painted:

 

There are many different themes available, if insects aren't your thing. They offer farm animals, dinosaurs, mermaids, ocean animals, and flowers, among others. With holiday travel coming up, this may be just what you need to keep your child happy in the car (fill an empty applesauce container half full with water and put it in a cup holder), on an airplane or in the airport, in a hotel room, or at a restaurant.