Top 5 Museums

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Top 5 Museums You Haven’t Been to Since Your Last School Field Trip
Chances are, when you last visited these museums, you were more excited about missing a day of school than learning about their educational significance. And that’s OK. But now you can appreciate these unique museums with “mature” eyes. The weather is just right for these indoor activities.

1. Betts House
As Ohio’s oldest brick house still on its original site, the Betts House is a beloved piece of Cincinnati pride. What began as a rural farmhouse on 111 acres in 1804 rapidly became a cornerstone to the once-thriving and booming West End neighborhood in the 1850s. Five generations of the Betts family resided here, raising more than two dozen children over the years. If these brick walls could talk…
Admission: $2
Hours: Tues–Thurs 11 am–2 pm
416 Clark St., West End, (513) 651-0734

2. The Fire Museum of Greater Cincinnati
You can probably thank this museum for teaching you to “stop, drop and roll” as a kid. A couple decades later, you’ll be able to appreciate Cincinnati’s progressive history of fire safety, which has been a priority since City Council passed its first firefighting ordinance in 1802.
Admission: $7 adults, $6 seniors, $5 children 6-17, free for children 5 and younger
Hours: Tues–Fri 10 am–4 pm; Sat & Sun noon–4 pm
315 West Court Street, downtown, (513) 621-5553

3. Heritage Village Museum in Sharon Woods Park
What exactly did people do all day before BlackBerrys and laptops? Well, they churned butter, chopped wood, wove clothes, cooked on the hearth, and made soap, of course! Step back in time with this recreated 19th-century village to experience the way life used to be in small-town, rural Southwest Ohio.
Admission: $5 adults, $3 children 5-11, free for children 4 and younger; call for hours
11450 Lebanon Pike, Sharonville, (513) 563-9484

4. SunWatch Indian Village and Archaeological Park
Where Disney’s Pocahontas may fail to teach about accurate American Indian life, this authentically restored 13th-century village comes to the rescue. This original site of an 800-year-old American Indian Village along the Great Miami River lets visitors discover ancient archaeology, culture and intellectual insights into the lives of our regional predecessors.
Admission: $5 adults, $3 seniors and students, free for children under 6
Hours: Tues–Sat 9 am–5 pm, Sun noon-5 pm
2301 West River Rd., Dayton, (937) 268-8199

5. Lloyd Library and Museum
Students are often directed to the Lloyd’s extensive resources—including historic and current books on botany, pharmacy, medicine and nature history—for school science and art projects. Even though you probably aren’t writing research papers on photosynthesis anymore, the Lloyd still offers fascinating exhibitions like The Chocolate Connection: Hans Sloane & Jamaica, on view now through Jan 31.
Admission: free
Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30 am–4 pm
917 Plum Street, downtown, (513) 721-6575
 
—Elizabeth Miller

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