Obscure Arizona museums offer worthwhile holiday alternative

Vintage airplanes. Restored trains. Campaign buttons from the Kennedy years. There’s a museum for just about everything in Arizona.

Lesser-known (some would say “obscure”) volunteer-run museums are worth a visit over Thanksgiving weekend, alternatives to malls overwhelmed with whiny children, crowds and shoppers armed with more attitude than cash.

African American Multicultural Museum

Although black Americans are the focus of this tiny museum, which occupies one room in a Scottsdale office, the overall message is multiculturalism.

“We are trying to get people to believe we are all brothers and sisters under one big blue sky,” says Edward VanDyke, president of the museum.

The main exhibit, “Safari,” features African artifacts including Ethiopian sipping cups, musical instruments and artwork. The explanations of each item are vague, so be sure to ask for a tour.

Details: 617 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Donations accepted. (480) 314-4400.

Arizona Railway Museum

There’s something about big kids and trains.

“Everybody likes the steam engine,” says Bart Barton, vice president of the Arizona Railway Museum.

Grandfathers who remember riding the trains as a kid and grandsons who play with Thomas the Tank Engine find themselves bonding over the restored cars at the museum. More than 34 cars range from a 1949 Union Pacific dining car to a steam engine owned by Chandler. This is an industrial museum, so visitors are asked to watch their step.

Details: 330 E. Ryan Road, Chandler. Open noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Suggested donation $2 per person, $5 per family. (480) 821-1108 or ww.azrymuseum.org.

Arizona Wing CAF Aircraft Museum

The Arizona Wing CAF Aircraft Museum, near Falcon Field Airport definitely takes you on a sentimental journey.

With music from the 1940s playing over the loudspeaker, take a tour of the enormous hangar housing replicas of planes from World War I, an actual B-17 bomber and fighter planes from World War II and the Vietnam War.

Details: 2017 N. Greenfield Road, Mesa. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. (480) 924-1940 or www.arizonawingcaf.com.

Superstition Mountain Museum

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Superstition Mountains is in this museum — geologic formations, wildlife, American Indians, mining, ranching, outlaws and the legend of the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine.

To walk into the museum and explore the grounds — which features a 20-stamp ore crusher, an amphitheater and buildings from Apache­land Movie Ranch, including the Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel — is to experience the legend and lore of Arizona’s early days. And, the view is pretty spectacular.

“I think everyone that comes here is overawed by the majesty of the mountain,” says George Johnston, a past president of the museum.

Details: 4087 N. Apache Trail, Apache Junction. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. $5 adults, $4 senior citizens, $2 children ages 6-17. (480) 983-4888 or www.superstitionmountainmuseum.org.

Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum

Tucked away in Temple Beth Israel in Scottsdale, this museum celebrates the cycle of Jewish life. The permanent collection features replicas of a neighborhood synagogue in Tunis and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. “Visions in Fiber,” a collection of artist Sheila Grobman’s quilted wall hangings, is on display through Feb. 10.

After exploring the museum, head out to the Biblical Garden, where plants referenced in the Bible grow.

Details: 10460 N. 56th St., Scottsdale. Open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. (480) 951-0323, Ext. 146 or www.templebethisrael.com.