The nation’s first museum dedicated exclusively to the first World War opened yesterday in Kansas City, MO. In the works since 2004, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial houses a collection of over 49,000 artifacts, a 20,000-square-foot research center, archives and interactive high-tech exhibits. What would you see in the newly constructed exhibits? Everything from uniforms to postcards, weapons used at the time to medical tools used on injured soldiers. By appointment, researchers and anyone from the general public can access the archives to study documents and images related to the war.

Not settled on your weekend yet? Still hammering out those sight-seeing plans? Tomorrow, a slew of U.S. museums are offering free general admission as part of Smithsonian’s Museum Day. All you have to do is print out a Museum Day “card” from the web site and take it with you to a participating museum for free admission. Each card gets two people in. A quick survey of participating museums across the country showed that not all the famous biggies in cities like NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami are in on the promotion, but a lot of really worthwhile, fun venues are (Los Angeles Museum of Neon Art, anyone?). Sounds like a great way to explore some new institutions in your own city - or the one you’ll be visiting this weekend.

Smithsonian’s Museum Day Participating Venues

Dress for the Occasion, an exhibition of the Queen’s evening gowns and jewelry, runs through September 24, 2006 at Buckingham Palace. The show is part of the annual summertime opening of the palace’s State Rooms and celebrates the Queen’s 80th birthday.

Dresses worn by the Queen during public and private engagements from the 1940s to the present chart nearly seven decades of royal fashion. Gowns by British couturiers Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies figure prominently.

The jewelry on display is really mind boggling. For example, Queen Mary’s Vladimir Tiara with 15 Cambridge emeralds and a Cartier brooch featuring a 23.6-carat pink diamond. Can you say major bling?

If you’re traveling with fussy tween or teenage girls, this might be the perfect way to get them to take in a little culture during your visit to London.

Dress For the Occasion official site

Okay, definitely morbid. But I’ve got to admit that I’ll probably check the National Museum of Funeral History out the next time I find myself in Houston. I mean, a museum whose slogan is, “Any Day Above Ground is a Good One” must be worth a visit. Among the interesting things housed there:

- 1920s era embalming tables

- A German funeral coach from 1860 (pictured)

- Princess Grace’s hearse

- A strand of President Lincoln’s hair taken from his fatal bullet wound

Princess Grace’s Hearse Among Killer Exhibits at Houston Museum

Baseball is about as American as you can get, even of many of the sport’s top players aren’t from the United States. It’s just the quintessential American spectator sport. Even I enjoy a good trip to the baseball diamond every once in awhile.

Anyone who love baseball and happens to be in Michigan this summer should take time out for the Henry Ford Museum’s Baseball as America exhibit. The exhibit, currently in Detroit, features over 500 artifacts and pieces of memorabilia from the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Among the cool things you’ll see:

- Baseballs signed by eight U.S. presidents

- Hank Aaron’s jersey from the day he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1974

- A letter from John F. Kennedy commemorating Jackie Robinson’s influence in the civil rights movement

- The most coveted baseball card in history: the 1909 Honus Wagner T206 tobacco card

And, seeing as the exhibit is in Detroit and Detroit is finally having a good season, the show includes lots of Detroit Tigers memorabilia and history.

Baseball as America Slides into Henry Ford Museum

Baseball as American exhibit official site

When it’s hot outside, there’s one place you know is going to be cool inside: museums. Here’s a rundown of some notable exhibits happening this summer (not exhaustive, obviously, but a short list to get the wheels turning):

LA: Japanese American National Museum: Part Asian, 100% Hapa

Raleigh: Best Wildlife Photography

Philly: Black & white surrealist photographs from Julien Levy’s extensive collection

NYC: Treasures of Sacred Mayan Kings

NYC: Jackson Pollock (Guggenheim)

NYC: Robert Redford’s Cosmic Collisions (AMNH)

Miami: Shimon Attie

Chicago: Frogs! A Chorus of Colors

Boston: Americans in Paris (1860-1900)

Perhaps Louisville’s 21c Museum Hotel should have been named the Gallery Hotel instead, because the downtown lodging option features over 9,000 square feet of gallery display space and rooms that are mini art galleries, as well as posh spots to rest weary heads in Kentucky’s largest city. The museum hotel claims to be the only such establishment solely dedicated to contemporary art from the 21st century.

While permanent pieces like a series of statues of nude children overlooking the reception desk (pictured) may freak some folks out, others will appreciate the avant guarde nature of the collection. It certainly goes beyond the average boutique hotel experience.

In addition to art, rooms feature goodies like 42″ flat screen TVs, high-end bath amenities from Malin & Goetz, 500-thread count sheets, nightly turndown service, free high-speed Internet access and nice little touches like silver julep cups in the bar area. If you fall in love with one of the pieces gracing your room’s walls, you’re in luck. All of the poster art in each room is for sale.

The hotel also has a contemporary American restaurant that combines Southern and Tuscan cooking traditions. Spa services are also available by appointment.

21c Museum Hotel official site

I’m in love with the Museum of Bad Art! I read about it in Weekend magazine the other day, went to the web site and have been hee-hawing ever since. Sadly, I have not been in person, but anyone in the Boston area can get there in a flash. It’s not a grand, glorious affair. It’s a collection of really bad art in the basement of an old building that houses the Dedham Community Theater, so don’t go expecting a froo-froo gallery setting. Other than the art, two great things about the Museum of Bad Art? Free admission and they stay open until 10pm.

MOBA official site

While some may think they heard enough from ‘ole Bill during his eight years in office, others will be glad to have him whisper insightful tidbits in their ears as they amble through the Clinton Presidential Library & Museum in Little Rock.

Apparently, the former president recorded his musings and memories of the Oval Office during latenight strolls through the library’s halls.

Bill Clinton Steps into Tour Guide Roll

One must-do on any European adventure this summer is a stop at Madrid’s Museo del Prado and Museo Reina Sofia for the Picasso exhibit spread between the two venues between now and September 4, 2006. The exhibit marks the 25th anniversary of the return of Pablo Picasso’s famous Guernica painting (pictured) to Spain from New York’s MOMA, an event that signified the country’s triumph over political unrest. Although Picasso completed the painting in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, he lent it to the New York museum with the understanding that it would be sent home to Spain when citizens were given democratic rights.

The show features over 100 Picasso works spanning all stages of his career, as well as major works from other artists working at the same time period as Picasso. The Museo del Prado showcases the bulk of the work done by other artists, while the Reina Sofia places more emphasis on Guernica and its legacy. Many of the paintings are on loan from other museums. For some, it is the first time in decades that they have appeared anywhere in Europe.

Even if you’re not usually one for fine art, it’s worth a visit, says TravelPoster pjholman in the blog post Madrid: The New York of Spain:

I´m not a huge art fan, but this museum was awesome. It has all the great Cubism and Surrealism works, like Picasso and Dalí, which makes for a sensory overload.

Picasso Exhibit at Prado and Reina Sofia Museums