San Diego Museum of US

This was a cool museum. $20 admission, I spent about an hour here for all the exhibits. I came on a Monday afternoon, so it wasn’t crowded at all. I didn’t buy a ticket in advance. But on the weekend, I feel it may get crowded so order in advance for then. They’re running a promotion right now where you can get a membership to the museum for free with your admission ticket. It has two buildings! One building has 8 exhibits, including (my favorite) The Post Secrets and an exhibit about Animals that it very photo friendly. The first floor has 3/4 exhibits about race, indigenous cultures and troubles. I think these very impactful and a beautiful representation of the world around us. The second floor has the 4 more exhibits about secrets, race, native history in California and living with animals. The post secret exhibit was my favorite. An artist asked people to mail in their secrets and he used them as art and as a way to let people relinquish their secrets. I loved it! Please beware, there are some secrets that are very dark here!! Living with animals was also a very cool experience with many interactive things to do and lots of photo opportunities. The cannibal exhibit,across the street, was also very cool! Lots of interactive things and lots of history. There were many places where things were worn down or not working or broken from other guests. But the information was still good. This place is good but it could be better. Without the cannibalism exhibit, I would not have spent $20 here. Enter at your own risk.

Sadly, I left the Museum of Us with a bad taste in my mouth. I was under the impression that this was supposed to be a museum of anthropology. I had come here hoping to celebrate and embrace culture and history, but their crown jewel, the Maya exhibit, seems more interested in making sure we know the Europeans we're really, really bad people. Don't get me wrong, I curse the Spaniards as much as the next guy for what they did to Latin America, the Philippines, etc., but this museum's displays and placards spend ALL of their time apologizing for how evil the Europeans were and NO time teaching me about Maya culture. I learned very little about the people from which these artifacts came. They make a big deal about how most museums are profiting off of stolen artifacts, how the Maya people were destroyed. I don't think there's anything wrong with acknowledging that the Spanish did a lot of terrible things, but infusing every single part of the exhibit with this negative energy just leaves me in a bad mood. Ironically, their pathetically small Egyptian exhibit doesn't involve itself in any of this hand-wringing over stolen artifacts and conquered peoples. I'm pretty sure that the ancient Egyptian civilization from which these artifacts were taken was also destroyed, yet the museum doesn't feel the need to apologize about that. The museum is in a fairly large building, yet the exhibits are small, lacking detail, and sparsely populated. I was the only person in there on a bright Saturday morning. Many areas were blocked off and several of their interactive parts were broken. Unfortunately, this place just screams lack of maintenance and attention. There are some truly interesting pieces of history in this museum, but the curators have chosen to focus purely on negativity instead of embracing the joy of learning about cultures, which is quite sad. Acknowledge wrongdoings, but don't dwell to the point where it ruins everything

A lot of fascinating exhibits with several thought provoking displays. I especially liked Post Secrets and Hostile Terrain. The tower tour is worth the extra $10 and you learn some history about Balboa Park and San Diego at large. We took the last tour up right at sunset and were treated to a stellar sunset.

I am so glad I finally made it to this museum! I love how it makes visitors question their beliefs and behaviors. For example, there is an exhibit which explores why humans love some animals and eat others. I think this pairs nicely with the fascinating exhibit on cannibalism! Visitors are asked to think about where they draw the line in terms of what (who) is acceptable to eat. I also love the inclusivity! I need to come back here and spend more time! My kids also enjoyed it (though it presents some challenging ideas, it is kid friendly and my 6yo was intrigued). I also loved the exhibit on beer, migrants, and the Maya! Looking forward to returning to explore more!

It was an ok experience as far as museums go. Some of the exhibits are a little underwhelming and the historical works lack a lot of descriptions and explanations into the deeper mythological histories of the cultures represented. However, the diversity of the exhibits and lower cost of entry is definitely a plus, I genuinely enjoyed the cannibal section because of its cross cultural elements and use of artifacts. Staff is very friendly and accommodating!