Niche Museums

Tiny museum dedicated to Madagascar's pirate history. The exhibits are in French but an English translated handout is available, which makes copious use of the word "booty".

London's best kept secret: a gallery of hand made satirical coin operated arcade machines built by Tim Hunkin. Enjoy a micro break holiday, launder money through the credit crisis, operate a personal nuclear reactor and spy on celebrities with a drone. Delightful.

Founded in 2011 by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, who claims to be a reincarnation of Buddha and is responsible for most of the art in the museum. Each piece is accompanied by a plaque which explains its artistic merit in effervescent terms.

More than 20,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers from around the world. Everything you can imagine has been captured in the form of a shaker. Highlights include NASA salt and pepper shakers and branded salt and pepper shakers from different airline first class flights.

Incredibly varied installation art located in a 1920s Mediterranean-style house. Visits by appointment only.

So many trains, some dating all the way back to 1862! Everyone loves trains. They also have historic carriages, including restored Pullman dining cars you can explore. One of the carriages is mounted on a motion simulator providing a delightfully mild rocking sensation.

Showcasing the artistry, history, and craft of bookbinding. The New York Times described it as "a small, obsessive collection of machinery and ephemera."

The only fully restored Cold War era Nike missile site in the country, hosting surface-to-air nuclear missiles for shooting down incoming Russian bomber planes! The first Saturday of the month is Veterans Open House, providing an opportunity to hear from the veteran missile techs who used to run these sites.

The Rosicrucians are "a community of mystics who study and practice the metaphysical laws governing the universe." Their Egyptian museum hosts the largest collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the Western United States, mostly collected from Egypt in the 1920s.

A working hydraulic model of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento to San Joaquin River Delta System, approximately the size of two football fields. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s to study the impact of proposed changes to the delta.

Locks, keys, locksmithing tools, safes and more.

A museum documenting the history of surfing, housed inside the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse.

The Museum of Russian Culture "was established by those who left Russia as a result of the Civil War of 1917–1922". It is located on the third floor of the Russian Center Building and is open 10:30am to 2:30pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

This historic ferry pier now hosts a collection of ships, including an 1886 square rigged sailing ship (the Balclutha), a 1907 steam tugboat (the Hercules) and Eureka, a side-wheel paddle steamboat built in 1890 which is now the largest existing wooden ship in the world. The museum is run by the National Park Service so if you have their annual pass you can get in for free.

One of every Pez dispenser ever sold - over 1000 unique dispensers. Also home to a classic toy museum and a banned toy museum, including the Atomic Energy Laboratory and Lawn Darts.