parlor question:

[queenlua]

What's the most niche museum you've ever been to?

(derived from a delightful lunch conversation, in which we discussed some tribal-black-magic museum so obscure Google could not summon it, and a telecommunications museum that apparently is like church: only open Sundays, and a couple very niche artists' museums, etc)

My own answer is probably either the National Ainu Museum in Sapporo, or the Fillmore County Historical Society Museum in Fountain, Minnesota, which punches SHOCKINGLY far above its weight—I was there mostly because I happened to be in the area, and I found myself totally enthralled with all these old musical instruments you were allowed to just... play? and old Civil War diaries you could read with your own two hands? and just so much totally random Americana stuff in a giant room for you to sift through? Delightful.

(Also, while I don't think this makes the cut because it's technically not niche enough, it's so cool I always have to mention it: the Living Computer Museum is an absolute delight; it's packed with a bajillion old computers and you are allowed to play with ALL OF THEM; it's so fun and god I hope they come back post-covid and such...!)

Feel free to answer here, if you so choose! or just save it in your back pocket next time you need entertaining cocktail party discussion-starters :P

ETA (Sept 28, 2022): someone made a Twitter thread to this effect & the replies are great

Comments

[airlock384]

a misfortune of mine is that I got dragged to visit a whole bunch of interesting cultural places when I was far too young to understand or enjoy what was going on, but now that I am old enough, I only ever end up on trips that are about shopping and sunbathing and whatnot. not that these aren't good things (although I'm never going to understand what's supposed to be FUN about TRAVELING to SHOP and it's NOT EVEN FOR NICHE MERCH), but I'd almost feel like it was a waste if it wasn't merely, in fact, terrible child management on my father's part,

which is why I couldn't tell you much about the place, but I believe the most niche museum I've ever been to was one in Spain, dedicated exclusively to pirates. not all that niche in that at least it's a historical topic, but eh, it is a bit overly specific! it was a pretty cool place in itself, too, seeing as it was, best as I recall, a literal pirate cove on the shore that was repurposed into the museum!

[queenlua]

a literal pirate cove on the shore that was repurposed into the museum

WHAT

okay this museum sounds so absurdly amazing

i have no idea when i might have occasion to visit the Iberian peninsula, but boy, if i ever do, i 100% know what i'm frantically looking up lol

[airlock384]

if you ever have occasion to visit mainland europe, really! as far as I'm told, these days, if you're in the EU, you can just hop on a train and get to wherever else in the EU for a day, for a laff; quick, cheap, relatively hassle-free

plus, who knows what other crazy interesting locales await in Spain that I tragically only half-remember as a nuisance? there's a city with almost the entire medieval architecture preserved, complete with a stone bridge that's seriously scary as fuck to cross. there's a city that was partially built into a cave. and apparently, the sights in Barcelona were interesting enough for my father and my uncle to ditch everyone else for a couple of days to make that trip happen, several times