As a native NY'er we have a number of extraordinary museums but there is no finer modern art colelction than MoMA.

There is however, an extraordianry collection of glass flowers at Harvard. They were crafted by the Blaschkas, a German father and son, and it is impossible to discern that these glass replcias are indeed replicas. It is the most astonishing example of craftmanship, I have seen. And for some reason, the Harvardians and Radcliffians I know are not aware of its existence.

Two that we like an awful lot, not mentioned yet I think.

1. Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale MS. Sweet little place with a visitors' book to die for - pretty much every famous musician of the second half of the 20th (and so far 21st) centuries. At the Crossroads of the Blues, where Hwys 61 (revisited) and 49 come together. Abe's BBQ is also there, not a museum but a shrine.

2. Maryhill Museum, Goldendale WA. Rodin's plaster models, postwar French fashion mannequins, and some fine paintings and <i>objets</i> in a peacocks-on-the-lawn mansion overlooking the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood in the distance.

I'm a fan and student of frontier western US history. For that, there are three I recommend, two of which have already been mentioned.

In LA, The Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum is very good. In Cody, WY, there are five excellent museums in the Buffalo Bill Historic Center. The firearms museum is especially superb. One not mentioned yet is small but highly interesting. It is the U.S. Army Museum at Fort Huachuca (WA chew ka) near Sierra Vista, AZ. During frontier days, the fort was home to the 10th and 11th U.S. Cavalry (the Buffalo Soldiers) who did much of the Indian fighting. Without regard to the morality of that, the museum is excellent.

I also like aviation museums and, in the west, there are two I am aware of that really standout. The Pima Air Museum near Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson is very good as is the Planes of Fame Museum at Chino Airport, just east of Los Angeles. I'm told there is also an excellent air museum at one of the Boeing plants in Seattle but I have not seen it.

Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. DeMenil in Houston. Also the Nasher Museum in Dallas; Kimbell, Amon Carter, and Modern Art museums in Fort Worth.

For dinosaurs, the Royal Tyrell in Drumheller, Alberta is second to none.

Re: the glass flowers in Cambridge: &quot;And for some reason, the Harvardians and Radcliffians I know are not aware of its existence. &quot;

Wrong and wrong. They refer to it as the Peabody Museum (pronounced properly as &quot;the Pee-biddee&quot; not &quot;pee-body&quot;), and if they don't know it as first year students, they certainly know it by senior year. Also, there is no Radcliffe College any more -- it's just an institute with some offices and some paperwork -- sorry to say. Harvard has been coed for decades.

As for favorite &quot;small gem&quot; museum -- love the museum and the gardens at Washington's (DC) Dumbarton Oaks. The Pre-Columban section, with its little prismed glass room nestled in the garden, is charming.