We made our way through the main entrance which leads into a patio-like setting. A bronze statue of Mr. Autry greets you.

From here, easy entrance can be made to to the Golden Spur Café, the Wells Fargo Theater, the Mary Pickford Educational Center, Museum Store, or the actual museum.

Since we knew about the restaurant, we arrived hungry, and headed straight for the Golden Spur Café. Again, perhaps my expectations were too high, but for a hot dog, a couple of sandwiches and two beverages, $23.92 just seems a bit steep. And it wasn't terribly good, or terribly fresh, or terribly hot. Perhaps it all came from the Old West.

On to the museum.

Entering the main building from the bright sunshine lit patio made the lobby feel dark. Really dark. Dark floors, dark walls, dark bronze statues, this area is serious, formal, and in no way captures any of Gene Autry's spirit of fun or adventure, let alone the west. With very few visitors in this section, [or any other part of the museum for that matter] it felt even more cavernous and empty. The woman behind the counter could not have been more unwelcoming, unhelpful, and brisk -- someone you might expect to find being gatekeeping some nameless Corporate suites.

 

2Adults - $15.00
1Child - $3.00 [2-12]
$18.00 for admission to a museum seems fair enough

And parking is free.

The entrance to the Main building is actually referred to as the upper level. Four exhibit spaces await -- two spaces are flexible and changeable, and one permanent. The lower level has six more permanent galleries to explore. Suffice it to say, this place is big. Much bigger than it appears from the outside.

The upper Spirit of Romance Gallery and Spirit of Imagination Gallery flow into one another, and display pictures, and historical artifacts of a more fantasy-based West. Paintings from advertiser John Gast, a hat and pistols from Annie Oakley, a set piece from Buffalo Bill's Wild West show - this is a West associated with movies and television and old commercial art.

As a tip of the hat to Mr. Autry, movie westerns are featured prominently. A western town 'movie set,' costume displays of everything from The Lone Ranger, to 'City Slickers' and 'Dances with Wolves.' The TV monitors along the way, were designed to add to the items on display. Unfortunately, the quality of the movies was old and worn out. In this day and age of DVD's and crystal clear sound and picture, this should be looked at immediately.

Several multi-media areas were in need of repair. At the end of the Imagination Gallery was a film presentation that had the Disney stamp. The multi-screen presentation looked very intriguing. Unfortunately, the sound synchronization was off by about 5 seconds, and I found it impossible to watch.