Cradle of Aviation Museum in New York

For decades, the Cradle of Aviation Museum has been thrilling visitors. Set on Long Island in Garden City, New York, the aerospace museum is all about showcasing Long Island’s role in aviation history. Today, they have eight galleries that contain dozens of aircraft and spacecraft. It’s a beautiful location that gets those of all ages intrigued about all of the exciting things that have happened in the skies right above us for years that we may not be aware of or know much about. Ready to learn more about what your visit to the Cradle of Aviation Museum might entail? Keep on reading!

The Basics
Appropriately located on Charles Lindbergh Blvd and stretched out over 150,000-square-feet, the Cradle of Aviation Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 5 pm. General admission to get into the museum is $14 for an adult and $12 for a child and senior, but extras such as shows will cost more. Members are granted free admission to the galleries as well as numerous other perks, and they also accept help from volunteers who, in turn, are granted free family admission.

Events
There are numerous events that take place at the Cradle of Aviation Museum throughout the year. For example, on October 27, 2016, they’re having the Cradle of Aviation Museum Air and Space Gala. They’re also currently having a great exhibit called The Arcade Age which showcases the history of video arcade games. Sessions last 1.5-hours daily at 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 3:30 pm. It’s $24 for adults and $20 for children, and not only will you get granted access to the galleries, but you’ll get to play games such as Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, and Ms. Pac Man.

Red Planet Cafe
You’re probably going to get hungry at some point which is the perfect opportunity to head over to Red Planet Cafe at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. The theme of the restaurant is the year 2040 and in a space station on Mars. You can get a variety of food items ranging from hot dogs and sandwiches to veggie burgers and fries. They’re open 11am to 3:30pm.

Theaters
There are two theaters at the Cradle of Aviation Museum: the JetBlue Sky Theater Planetarium and the X-Ride Theater. The former offers a virtual reality experience that is ten times the size of a standard film frame, and they show a variety of pictures such as “Sea Monsters” on April 17. You can check out the full schedule here. As far as the X-Ride Theater, it’s a giant motion simulator that seats 30 and gives you quite the experience. It’s open on weekends only; currently playing is “Fly with the Blue Angels.”

There’s a whole host of other things you can do at the Cradle of Aviation Museum including visiting the museum store or riding Nunley’s Carousel which was built in 1912. There’s so much to do and see that you could easily spend an entire day there. Not a bad way to learn and have some fun at the same time.