Florida's Best Museums

From Art to History to Children’s Museums and beyond…Your guide to museum fun!

By Shari Lacy

Everyone has a different idea of an enjoyable vacation. Some escape for beach time, others to discover delicious cuisine or interesting new places but no matter the reason, there are always days when one might desire the discovery of something new and fascinating.

What better way to do that than exploring the incredible and sometimes unexpected things that Florida's museums have to offer.

Florida is exploding with unique, educational, fun and interesting museums that are carefully curated to not only entertain you, but to help you leave with more knowledge that you came with. From historically fascinating stops like The Ringling in Sarasota to the Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg and Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West, the extra special offerings at each stop will keep you and your family entertained for hours no end.

So if you’d like to take an adult vacation with a desire to learn about art or history, or entertain little ones for a rainy afternoon, either way, here is a short list of some of the interesting museums you will find while exploring the Sunshine State.

Art Museums

Salvador Dali Museum
St. Petersburg, FL
dali.org

Artist, sculptor, filmmaker and all around creative ingenue, Salvador Dali, made a name for himself as one of the most well-known Surrealists of all time. If you love the unique and intriguing styles of his dreamlike paintings and work, try visiting the Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg. They are dedicated to keeping the integrity of Dali’s artwork alive for everyone to admire. It has become the definitive resource for all things Dali. Whether you want to know more about his artwork, have inquiries about his biography, paintings or overall contribution to the art world, the Dali Museum is your portal into his strangely creative world.

Lightner Museum
St. Augustine, Fl
visit.lightnermuseum.org

Oh, the Gilded Age of the 19th Century! The decades between the tumultuous years of the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century, this timeframe in history exhibits the extravagance and political corruption of these years. Set in an iconic building at the heart of historic St. Augustine, the Lightner museum occupies the former Hotel Alcazar, built in 1888 and brought back to life as a Gilded Age resort hotel commissioned by railroad magnate Henry Flagler in 1947. The Lightner Museum offers an immersive experience of art, architecture, history, and design. The intricate building is a piece of art in its own right evoking appreciation for Spanish architecture while also displaying elements of Italian and Moorish design. You’ll find engaging exhibitions as well as K-12 education programs, that will give you an encompassing sense of this unique era in time.

Childrens

Golisano Children’s Museum
Naples, FL
cmon.org

This entertainingly dubbed CMON Museum (Chidren’s Museum of Naples) is a 501c3 charitable organization that was founded in 2002. It’s a brain building powerhouse and Southwest Florida’s first museum devoted to children and families. Enjoy this 30,000 square foot cultural institution including permanent and temporary interactive, fully accessible exhibits that blend state of the art technology with a replication of the natural world and human communities. Everything about this museum fosters creativity, curiosity, empathy, and self esteem. Future Vet in the family? They will love the Adopt-A-Pet Vet Clinic that offers exploration into that field. A budding artist? The Art Studio will captivate their imaginations. Have a toddler? Check out ABC Tot Lot for gated area dedicate for children from infancy to three years.

History

The Ringling
Sarasota, FL
ringling.org

When you hear Ringling, you probably think circus life but this museum offers that unique Ringling Brothers circus history and much more. The Ringling Museum of Art is the state art museum of Florida and has a wonderful collection of artworks now under the governance of Florida State University. It is one of the largest university art complexes in the U.S. This was the legacy left by John and Mable Ringling, who made their fortune in the early 20th century as part of the famous Ringling family circus.

Within the 66-acre grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay, you experience the Circus Museum recapturing the heady days of the traveling circus as well as touring the magnificent Ca’d’Zan Mansion and extensive gardens, making this a great value-for-money attraction.

Hemingway Home & Museum
Key West, FL
hemingwayhome.com

Known for his amusing anecdotes writing, Ernest Hemingway is one of history’s most proclaimed modern authors. A visit here will introduce you to this complicated and layered writer with guided tours of his home, originally built in 1851. While living here between 1931 and 1942, Hemingway wrote about 70% of his life's work, including classics like For Whom the Bell Tolls. Few of his belongings remain aside from some books, and there's little about his actual work, but photographs help you visualize his day-to-day life. The famous six-toed descendants of Hemingway's cats—many named for actors, artists, authors, and even a hurricane—have free rein of the property. Tours begin every 10 minutes and take 30 minutes; then you're free to explore on your own. Be sure to find out why there is a urinal in the garden!

St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum
St. Augustine, FL
thepiratemuseum.com

Ahoy, Me hearties! Lovers of pirate stories and history will find this stop fascinating. The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum brings to life an exciting array of educational displays that transports you back in time over 300 years to Port Royal, Jamaica, at the height of the Golden Age of Piracy. The museum spans about 5,000 sq. ft. with a 1,300 sq. ft. courtyard and was founded by Pirate Scholar, Entrepreneur, and best-selling Author Pat Croce. It is his passion project and features over 800 authentic artifacts celebrating the history of piracy, both factual and fictional, from the 1600’s through present day. Once located in Key West, Croce moved the museum to the pirate stronghold of St. Augustine and showcases details of pirates such as Sir Francis Drake and Robert Searles who frequented the nation’s oldest city and the Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Marcos, which played a major role in the history of pirates and Colonial America.

Morse Museum
Winter Park, FL
morsemuseum.org

The Morse Museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), one of the most creative and prolific designers of the late 19th-century. His lifelong “pursuit of beauty” brought beautiful art and design into the homes of regular people and those in higher society alike. You’ll discover a comprehensive collection of Tiffany’s work, the Morse Museum’s collection is an expansive documentation of all that Tiffany created.

The museum also includes his jewelry, pottery, paintings, art glass, leaded-glass lamps and windows; his chapel interior from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago; and art and architectural objects from his Long Island country estate, Laurelton Hall. The Museum’s holdings also include American art pottery, late 19th- and early 20th-century American paintings, graphics, and decorative art.

Science

Mel Fisher Maritime Museum
Key West, FL
melfisher.org

Relive the life of one of history’s most famous treasure hunters along with a wealth of exhibits on shipwreck archaeology with admission to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. This Key West institution showcases a variety of treasures, both cultural and monetary, recovered from the treasure and slave ships that once plied the waters near the Florida coast. Check out the thought-provoking Slave Ship and Key West African Cemetery exhibits, then gaze in wonder at the magnificent gold, silver and jewels of the Spanish Treasure Galleons galleries.

Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is the only fully accredited museum in The Keys and brings maritime archeology to life by fully exploring and exhibiting the human connection to the sea as it is found through sites, artifacts, and other material remains.

Kennedy Space Center
Merrit Island, FL
kennedyspacecenter.com

If you are a fan of anything space and exploration, do yourself a favor and make a stop at the Kennedy Space Center on Merrit Island, FL.

America's space program—past, present, and future—is the star at this must-see attraction, just 45 minutes east of Orlando, where visitors are treated to a multitude of interactive experiences. Located on a 140,000-acre barrier island, Kennedy Space Center was NASA's launch headquarters from the beginning of the space program in the 1960s until the final shuttle launch in 2011. Thanks to an invigorated NASA program and to high-tech entrepreneurs who have turned their interests to space, visitors to the complex can once again view live rocket launches from the Cape. A visit to the website will inform you of the many scheduled launches.

The visitor center takes you through Mission Zones, with attractions organized chronologically, beginning with the Heroes & Legends attraction, (celebrating the men and women who've journeyed to space,) the relocated U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, the original Mercury 7 team and the later Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and shuttle astronauts have contributed artifacts and memorabilia to make it the world's premium archive of astronauts' personal stories.

There is so much to offer here so be sure to visit the website and plan your visit.

Gillespie Museum
DeLand, FL
stetson.edu/other/gillespie-museum/

Budding geologists will find The Gillespie Museum an exciting place. More than 15,000 rock and mineral specimens in its collection, of which only a portion are on permanent display. Stored specimens are revealed through rotating exhibits that change either per semester or annually. The museum also has much to offer beyond rocks and minerals, with exciting new exhibits throughout the academic year representing a diversity of topics which often blur the line between art and science.

Don’t miss this stop if you are in the Daytona area.