{"id":57818,"date":"2017-02-23T16:00:16","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T22:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=57818"},"modified":"2017-09-28T10:08:58","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T15:08:58","slug":"baltimores-quirkies-museums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/baltimores-quirkies-museums\/","title":{"rendered":"Baltimore’s coolest, quirkiest museums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baltimore<\/a> is oft-described as quirky, and nowhere is that more apparent than in its array of oddball museums. The city\u2019s ingenuity, imagination, and bipolar tendencies are reflected in places like the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), Geppi\u2019s Entertainment Museum and the toothy National Museum of Dentistry (which houses a set of George Washington\u2019s chompers).<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The 7 weirdest things to see in Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

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American Visionary Art Museum | Flickr CC: Daniel Lobo<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Let’s get metaphysical<\/h2>\n

The most iconic of Baltimore\u2019s offbeat institutions is the American Visionary Art Museum. AVAM is one of those only-in-Baltimore kind of places. All of the works\u2014from whirligigs to kinetic sculptures\u2014have been created by visionaries (that is, folks who create to the beat of an alternative drummer). The self-taught artists use everything from toothpicks and tin cans to computer parts to bring their visions into a semblance of reality.<\/p>\n

A big old mouthful<\/h2>\n

Looking for the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth? Then it\u2019s time for a checkup at the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry. The collection of dental artifacts ranges from George\u2019s aforementioned dentures (which are actually made of ivory, not wood) to cartoon character toothbrushes to antique dental tools resembling instruments of torture. On a more pleasant note, visitors can jaw over vintage commercials touting old-timey toothpaste brands like Ipana and Close-Up.<\/p>\n

ALSO:<\/strong> Nothing odd about the Orbucks you’ll earn with Orbitz Rewards\u2014join today!<\/a><\/p>\n

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Geppis Entertainment Museum | Flickr CC: Jim, the photographer<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

So much character(s)<\/h2>\n

Geppi\u2019s Entertainment Museum says howdy doody to American pop culture icons of years past. Yes, Howdy Doody is there, as are Barbie, Big Bird, Superman and Spongebob Squarepants. The fun house chronicles U.S. \u00a0pop culture from the 17th century to today by paying homage to the nation\u2019s childhood heroes, along with displaying toys, garish B movie posters, cereal boxes and the kitchen sink. There\u2019s even a shrine containing comic books dating from the Golden Age (starting in 1938) to today.<\/p>\n

An ode to code<\/h2>\n

While many Baltimore museums are located near Baltimore\u2019s Inner Harbor, another unique facility is hidden about 20 miles away. The National Cryptologic Museum sits aptly adjacent to National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters. The facility shows how cryptology has shaped history since the American Revolution. The collection includes Civil War signal flags and code books, German Enigma machines from World War II, and Cold War memorabilia, including a piece of the famous U-2 aircraft shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Visit Baltimore<\/p><\/div>\n

Stacks of wax<\/h2>\n

Discover life-size displays depicting major events in U.S. history and important historical and contemporary personalities of African ancestry at The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum. \u00a0While the museum is a Who\u2019s Who of famous African Americans, including Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King, Jr., international figures and artists are also set in wax.<\/p>\n

\"Orbitz,<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get to know Charm City’s oddball institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":57998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1856],"class_list":["post-57818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-travel","tag-destinations-2"],"acf":{"api_active":null,"api_title":null,"api_excerpt":null,"api_featured_image":null,"api_lob":null},"posts_api_cpm_point":[{"name":"","description":"","thumbnail":"","address":"Baltimore, MD, USA","latitude":"39.2903848","longitude":"-76.61218930000001","icon":"\/images\/icons\/marker.png"}],"yoast_head":"\nBaltimore's coolest, quirkiest museums | Orbitz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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