Strataca Underground Salt Museum
Hutchinson, Kansas
At the Strataca Underground Salt Museum, prepare to travel 650 feet underground and explore a vast subterranean world. Visitors climb into a double-decker shaft that descends into the mine in less than two minutes; there they will find a multitude of activities and exhibits, from underground train rides to a mining gallery and a habitat for ancient salt-dwelling bacteria.
Must see: Strataca offers two vehicles for adventure: the Salt Mine Express and the Dark Ride. The Express is a 15-minute narrated train ride through the tunnels that highlights many untouched aspects of the excavation site, such as abandoned dynamite boxes and break rooms with vintage candy wrappers. The Dark Ride takes a daring course past old mine hazards and nuclear waste storage on a 30-minute tram tour.
Special group experience: Throughout the year, the museum hosts an interactive dinner theater called Murder in the Mines, with past themes such as The Spy Who Killed Me, Who Killed the ’80s and Murd-ER, which featured characters from the television shows “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scrubs” and “ER.”
The Henry Ford
Dearborn, Michigan
With more than 300 years of American innovation on display, The Henry Ford museum showcases far more than its founder’s famous Model T automobiles. The museum is a testament to what perseverance and creativity can achieve and celebrates the work of America’s greatest minds as well as the obstacles they overcame to reach their success. In Henry Ford’s words: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Must see: A few of the museum’s most notable exhibits include the Rosa Parks bus, the presidential limousine of John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln’s chair from Ford’s Theatre, Thomas Edison’s laboratory and the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop.
Special group experience: School groups can enjoy an interactive learning experience through one of the museum’s educational scavenger hunts or a Model T building activity.
Mall of America
Bloomington, Minnesota
With enough room to fit seven Yankee Stadiums inside, the Mall of America holds more than 570 restaurants, stores and attractions within its walls, staking its claim as the largest shopping mall in the United States. If guests spent 10 minutes in each store, it would take them around 86 hours to explore the entire mall.
Must see: In addition to a huge number of retail options, the complex houses a 1.2 million-gallon aquarium.
Special group experience: To make it a more memorable outing, try the behind-the-scenes tour at the aquarium or an educational program on the physics of theme park rides at Nickelodeon Universe.
City Museum
St. Louis
The City Museum might be the only museum where guests are encouraged to touch and climb on the exhibits. Originally a shoe factory, the 600,000-square-foot building was converted into a spectacular urban playground during the 1990s using repurposed material such as abandoned planes, salvaged bridge parts, construction cranes and chimneys. While its themes are always expanding, some of the current highlights are 10-story slides, tunnels made from old cooling tubes, thousands of fiberglass icicles and an old Ferris wheel on the roof.
Must see: No trip to the museum is complete without a race down its famous 10-story slides, which can be found throughout the caves.
Special group experience: For game enthusiasts, the spiraling cave tunnels make a great venue for hide-and-seek.
