A few weeks after our trip to Imagine Nation, in Bristol, CT, we ventured a little further from home, to Westfield, MA.
We met our cousins, G & E, at the Amelia Park Children’s Museum. We were very impressed by this museum. Upon entry, there doesn’t seem to be very much to the museum. It’s set back from the road, with little parking available in front of the building.
Adults and Children, 12 months and older, are $7.00. As you may remember, we typically are frustrated when adults and children are charged the same admission. In this case, however, the cost of one adult, and one child is actually less than many children’s museums cost per person, so we were not complaining!
Amelia Park does offer several levels of membership, ranging from two people, up to a Daycare Membership, covering two adults and up to 8 children. Discounts are also offered to senior citizens, Military personnel, and Teachers. Infants are free.
Amelia Park Museum is not a member of the Association of Children’s Museums- Reciprocal Network.
Immediately upon entry, we found ourselves in the middle of a room, dodging balls that were flying everywhere. Our kids joined the fun, chasing the balls that were rolling on the floor, and depositing them in the pneumatic tubes. The balls would find themselves into a giant receptacle, which would flip over, and empty itself once it had collected enough balls. This kept our three toddlers busy for quite a while. There is a good possibility they would have remained there the rest of the day, but we wanted them to explore the rest of the museum, too!
Other exhibits included a Dentist’s office, Doctor’s office, grocery store, stage, construction zone, and building area. Another favorite spot was the library, set up with lots of chairs, and so many books! All four kids love books, so they really enjoyed that area.
This was a wonderful place for toddlers, and slightly older children. We spent a good amount of time in the museum. So much time, in fact, that we were pretty far past lunchtime for the duo, and while my brother and Sister-in-law had packed a picnic lunch for their family (Smart!) we had not thought ahead enough to do so. Instead, we had picked out a little place we wanted to stop at on the way home.
It wasn’t long before we were walking into the Westfield River Brewing Company. TT Dad wanted to sample a couple of their brews, and we noticed there was an attached (separate) restaurant- The Skyline Hop Shop.
I can’t speak for the ale (perhaps TT Dad will join us to review those!) but I can speak for the grub. We ordered a few things off the menu, including the Orchard Grilled cheese, and a handful of sides to split between the four of us. There wasn’t anything left when we were done. Everything we tried was delicious. We will absolutely be back, when we return to the Amelia Park museum!