Traveling to Long Island gives you the opportunity to explore a part of the nation that has truly shaped the entire American culture. Long Island is home to some of the country’s top-rated restaurants and attractions. There is definitely no lack of museums, making it the ideal destination for museum enthusiasts. The Long Island Maritime Museum and Long Island Museum are but two of the nearby attractions you should put on your to-do list when visiting New York.
Vanderbilt Museum Mansion and Planetarium
The Vanderbilt Museum Mansion and Planetarium sits on 43 acres of waterfront estate. The attraction features sprawling grounds for horticultural enthusiasts to discover the elegant, former home of William Kissam Vanderbilt, II, the great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius.
Vanderbilt Museum offers guided mansion tours. Staff and tour guides are dressed in costume, making it an unforgettable experience. Visitors can experience the museum on their own if preferred. The museum boasts several galleries, including ones that focus on marine life, wild animal habitats, natural history, and artificial artifacts.
The fun doesn’t end when the sun sets. A state-of-the-art planetarium invites visitors to shows recreating celestial events with cutting-edge surround sound technology. If you’re staying at one of Long Island’s plentiful lodging options, ranging from five-star hotels to cabins and cottages, then you’ll have the chance to visit at night and scan the open sky on clear evenings with a professional Mead reflecting telescope.
Long Island Maritime Museum
Located on the historic West Sayville waterfront, the Long Island Maritime Museum encompasses 14 acres and nine historic buildings. Committed to preserving Long Island’s maritime history, heritage, and artifacts, the museum offers a lively exhibition schedule and is well-known for its interesting and educational programs.
You’ll enjoy interactive exhibits where you can access historic information about shipwrecks, lighthouses, and heroic acts of the U.S. Life Saving Service. The museum’s working boatyard gives you plenty of opportunities to experience the Great South Bay oyster industry. This south shore gym is sure to capture the imagination of the young and old alike, making it an excellent attraction to visit with children.
Long Island Museum
Situated on 9 acres in Stony Brook, New York, the Long Island Museum focuses on preserving and displaying its historical artifacts, an extensive collection of art, and carriages. Serving its Long Island community, the museum provides rich educational programs that are open to the public.
When visiting, guests may tour the Art Museum, which includes nearly 450 paintings, 2,000 works on paper, and 40 sculptural works. The History Museum consists of a mixture of artifacts representing Long Island’s history throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Featuring nearly 200 horse-drawn vehicles and over 25,000 nonvehicular artifacts, Long Island Museum’s carriage collection is internationally recognized.
Long Island is home to a long list of museums. In addition to the ones mentioned above, make sure to carve out time to visit the Raynham Museum and the Cold Spring Harbor Museum. These specialty museums feature one-of-a-kind exhibits you won’t find anywhere else.