Museums are always a feature in my traveling itineraries. Art collections claim the top priority, but nearly any aspect of human history, endeavor, and achievement is bound to be of interest to me in a museum setting.
When researching things to do in the north of San Diego County, I came across a comparatively off-the-beaten-track establishment called the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum. The subject sounded enticing, the online reviews were reasonably positive, and the location, just on the edge of Carlsbad’s municipal boundaries, offered a good continuation of our morning plans for visiting the village center. We walked in expecting to spend half an hour looking at a bunch of mechanical models. What we did not expect was the space roughly the size of a hockey rink, chock-full of miniature working engines and scaled models of everything from various modes of transportation to dollhouses and other amusements.
It should be noted that until very recently, I haven’t really been consistently taking significant volumes of pictures in museums. Never found taking photos of objects indoors all that exciting – and therefore, frequently left my camera at the hotel when going to a museum; never liked taking pictures with the phone, that kind of stuff. This visit was initially no exception: I left my camera in the trunk of the rental car. Three minutes into the visit, I went back to get it. As a result, this is what I believe is my very first dedicated museum post with a large number of exhibit pictures.
These dollhouses are so elaborate that discovering their many details can, by itself, take hours of exploration.
Some of them remind me of my favorite Lilliput Lane houses (these are obviously bigger than the models I used to collect).
And a few are decidedly playful.
Colorful music boxes vie with dollhouses for the level of detail.
Vehicles and related modes of transportation and industry are represented across the board.
Locomotives are among the most photogenic exhibits.
Warships and other boats also feature aplenty.
As does aircraft.
Assorted other glimpses.
And a few literal pieces of art.
There are nearly 1,300 exhibits shown on the museum website. I can’t say for sure if everything on display is recorded in that online catalog, but being in the room, it felt as if the collection was limitless.
The amazing place does not charge an entry fee, although donations are obviously appreciated. There are always several curators on hand, happy to answer questions. The location in a commercial-offices area about 20 minutes by car from the center of Carlsbad village means that there is no passersby traffic – you will share the museum with a few visitors who, just like you, are here on purpose.