The American Museum of Natural History is one of my favorite places on earth, bar none. I used to spend hours there rambling around all by myself while I was at Columbia. Of course, back then it was pay-what-you-wanted (as the Met still is), which was a godsend for poor undergraduates. The only thing I dislike about the AMNH now is that they've abolished that policy, and admission is damn pricey.

Mind, I can pay the full price now -- and would, even given a choice. But I resent that the scholargipsies of tomorrow have no such option. (Of course, in my mind, every museum everywhere should be government subsidized and free to the people, but that's a different gripe altogether.)