I totally second a visit to the Rijksmuseum, also to its historical department. Always a good idea is a visit to the Willet Holthuysen museum to experience what a patrician's canal house was like. It makes the dolls houses you see at the Rijkmuseum really come to life.

With the Museum Pass I've gone into so so many lesser museums I may not have or would not have if I had to pay - like the Amsterdam City Museum just off the Dam near the Royal Palace - and the Royal Palace itself and some churches that are no longer churches - hidden gems like Our Lord in the Attic and sobering ones like the Dutch Resistance Museum - the tiny Botanical Gardens is also free with the pass and a joyful place to relax. And the Ship Museum in the old port - the Reubens House - Jewish Museum and on and on - all in a fairly compact area. did i mention the Amsterdam branch of St Petersburg's Hermitage in an old canal townhouse?

Rubens house? In Amsterdam? Antwerp is the most likely place for that.

Also the Amsterdam Hermitage is not in a "town house", but in Amstelhof, a former nursing home for elderly women, built in 1681.

At the peak of its capacity Amstelhof housed 700 people and was in service as a home for the elderly up till 2007. In that time it was most famous because Ramses Shaffy lived there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruqvdN3Kjd4

Rubens House is in Antwerpen, but Rembrandtuis is in Amsterdam, it's on the Museum Pass, and if you're interested in art, then it's a must-see.

I never much liked Rembrandthuis, nor found it very interesting. Yes, it is one of his studios, but was probably more like a small factory for paintings than a studio of an artist creating in solitude.

I cannot thank you all enough for the tremendous help you have given me. I am still at a loss for which hotel to pick but have my sights down pat. Restaurants have me in alittle of a quandary as my DH is a picky eater. I will opt for the I am Amsterdam card as it gives me more bang for my buck. Please keep sharing. Thank you

I do it with hesitation, as a right controversy is forming around them, but here goes:

Foodhallen Amsterdam. It's in the Kinkerbuurt area (the next tourist area) and in some eyes the neighbourhood is being destroyed by it.

An indoor market where you can compose your own lunch, qua picknick from a variety of stallholders.

http://foodhallen.nl/

A better and more adventurous version of this can be found in Zuidoost, Amsterdam's most multicultural suburb, as World of Food. I must say that WFC is better. Foodhallen does the usually white hip middle class craft beer and pulled pork thing.

http://worldoffoodamsterdam.nl/foodcourt/

WoF's foodcourt offers a podium to semi professional chefs. Spectacular food.