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| - Visited the museum this afternoon (Sunday), and was really blown away. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but MIM totally exceeded anything I could have conjured up for a musical instrument museum.
We arrived around 1:30, and upon purchasing our tickets ($15 each) we were given a headset to wear through the exhibits (upstairs portion only). Before going upstairs we viewed the introductory exhibits in the downstairs foyer, including a nice collection of guitars from around the world. Then we headed upstairs to the main exhibits.
The museums second floor is arranged geographically by continent and country. Generally, each country's exhibit includes a collection of musical instruments with placards that provide general information on the source, construction and approximate age of the instrument. There is also a video display that you will hear on your headset as you approach the exhibit. (You never have to touch the controls on the headset once you adjust the volume--great audio and comfortable to wear!).
Be aware that not all the exhibits have been installed yet...there were a fair number of empty spaces that are yet to be filled. But there was more than enough to fill three hours of our time. And we didn't even get to the Europe, USA and Canada exhibits, nor did we have time to tour any of the downstairs exhibits except for those we saw as we entered the foyer. The museum closes at 5PM on Sunday, so we just ran out of time. However, we are definitely planning to go back and complete our tour, although we're going to wait a few months for them to fill in all the exhibits that haven't yet been installed.
We didn't have time to visit the cafe, but we peeked in and were impressed. We did visit the museum store and saw some interesting items, but didn't purchase anything.
They also have a concert series...I'll be checking their website to see who's coming in the next few months. All in all, a well-spent Sunday afternoon!
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