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10. Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, Farmington Hills, Michigan

Admission is free, but bring some change. With 5,500 square-feet of coin-operated heaven, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum is the alpha and omega of arcades. Machines date back to the early 1900s. The highlight is a fifty-five-piece mechanical orchestra that still plays over 300 songs, but other winners are the old-timey gypsy fortune tellers and an electric chair supposedly from Sing-Sing prison.

9. International Spy Museum, Washington D.C.
The first and only public museum in the United States solely dedicated to espionage, the International Spy Museum is paradise for James Bond wannabes. While the museum exhibits are undeniably cool — think everything from ninjas to Cold War-era satellites — the real highlight is the scavenger hunts, kid-friendly spy missions, speakers and workshops designed to give first-hand accounts of how it feels to live the spy life. Adult tickets are $18, kids are $15.

8. Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison, Colorado
If sifting soil in search of the decayed remains of dead creatures doesn't turn your stomach, have we got a spot for you. Home to some of the best-known dinos, including Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, and Allosaurus, Dinosaur Ridge lets kids "examine Cretaceous crime scenes" in the on-site Dig Pit. Admission is free, tours are $3 per person.

7. Salem Witch Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

Even looking past all the torture and death, the Salem Witch Museum (located in a creepy, gothic castle-like structure) is still kind of scary. Children eager to learn about that time in history when our country burned women for no discernable reason will be delighted/terrified by the museum's theatrical presentations and their life-size mannequins. The current "Witches: Evolving Perceptions" exhibit focuses less on people-burning and more on modern-day witchcraft. Adult tickets are $8, children's are $5.50.

6. Trash-o-saurus, Stratford, Connecticut
Located in the Museum of Garbage (one of two museums in Connecticut dedicated to refuse), this one-ton, twenty-foot dinosaur is made of the same amount of garbage the average consumer creates each year. In addition to extinct creatures made from waste, the museum also offers hands-on exhibits and family workshops that promote green living. Admission is $2 per person, but possibly not for long. The museum is in danger of closing due to lack of funding.

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