A Fun-Filled Day Exploring Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture

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I only had one day to spend sightseeing in Seattle. I made the obligatory trip to the Pike Place Market to see them throwing fish and then I had the rest of the afternoon available. I was going to go on a ferry but it was cold, raining and windy (even for Seattle standards). Looking for other things to do, I asked our wonderful readers for suggestions before the trip. Here’s one of the replies.

When I saw that the weather would be bad, I read more about the museum before my trip. I almost fainted as it looked like I found Geek Nirvana.

Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)
325 5th Avenue N
Seattle, WA 98109

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST COMING!!!!!

The museum is a little bit outside of downtown Seattle, right near the Space Needle. I took an UBER ride to get there and I thought the building looked familiar when I arrived. As it turns out, it was founded in 2000 as the Experience Music Project (I remember watching when that museum opened on MTV, back when they still showed music videos and music news).

The Museum of Pop Culture name was adopted in 2016 as the museum’s theme shifted from just music to covering all pop culture mediums for mega fans everywhere.

I loved every second of my visit.

When I visited, one of the rotating exhibits was “The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited.”

This exhibit was an additional $8 over the normal admission price and was worth every penny. They didn’t waste time giving people what they came to see. Here’s the first thing you see when entering.

There was a ton of nostalgia to be had. From Sesame Street to the Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Essentially, my entire childhood was there.

I was emotionally exhausted, and that was only the first exhibit. I headed onto another area, Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds.

They covered the whole Trek Universe from TOS to TNG, DS9, Voyager and even things from Enterprise and all generations of Star Trek movies like the Khan costume (minus Benedict Cumberbatch.) I don’t know if they’ve since included items from Discovery or Picard.

They even had a booth where you could record your best James T. Kirk “KKHHHHAAAANNNNN” scream.

If you were wondering how all of Trek fits together, they had a timeline for you.

I need to mention these exhibits weren’t just rooms filled with memories of my past, as if that wouldn’t be enough. These were museum-quality displays explaining the context and importance of the items they were presenting. There was a storyline to follow, and it was fascinating to walk around and read the history behind the things I loved.

Those were both temporary exhibits at the museum. To find out the current exhibits, check the museum website.

If this wasn’t Pop Culture overload, Michael Jackson’s Thriller played on the mega big screen while about 100 people stood there and watched the whole thing.

I was only done with less than half of the museum. My brain almost exploded.

For brevity’s sake, from now on, it will just be pictures.

There’s an area called Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction.

There is also an area devoted to Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic.

And one is devoted to horror movies called Scared to Death. It was not my forte, but I braved it and survived to tell the tale.

This wasn’t all of the exhibits. There are tons of things I didn’t take pictures of. I already felt like “that tourist” who takes pictures of EVERYTHING. There were also video exhibits. You could spend hours (or a whole day if that’s your thing, and it could easily be my thing) and not see everything. I mean come on, this was their loading bay door.

I’m so thankful that one of our readers turned me on to this. I probably would have missed it otherwise and kicked myself in the rear for the rest of my life.

I did manage to get one selfie when I was there. How could I help not get a selfie with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker?

By now, you’ll know if you will give your right arm to visit here or if you’re just, meh. I’m telling you, this was one of the best times I’ve EVER had at a museum.

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