Burke Museum

The Burke Museum (N.E. 45th St. and 17th Ave., 206/543-5590, www.washington.edu/burkemuseum [1], 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, $8 adults, $6.50 seniors, $5 ages 5–18, and free to kids under 6 and UW students and staff) stands just inside the north entrance to the University of Washington [2] campus and features an extraordinary collection of anthropological and natural-history displays.

As you enter Burke Museum you face a "treasures case" with Tlingit potlatch masks, a feathered Pomo basket, and even a ceramic horse from China’s Wei dynasty. Permanent exhibits focus on Washington’s geological, paleontological, and biological history, and on various Pacific cultures.

Burke Museum also features outstanding changing exhibitions, a gift shop, and totem poles out front. Downstairs is a fine little coffeehouse—it becomes a study hall during the school year.