Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR

Oregon might be my Favorite Place Ever. With lots of family in Oregon, we visited almost every summer when I was a kid. It’s one of those places that I really wanted to share with my own kids, and this summer, we finally had a chance.

In July, we took the kids to Oregon for five days. We spent a couple days in Portland, and the rest of the trip in Sunriver. One of the coolest things we did – which wasn’t around when I was a kid! – was visit the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville.

The real reason we wanted to visit the Evergreen musuem was so that Jack could see the Spruce Goose. Y’all. It did not disappoint.

It was insane. Seriously. This plane is massive! Visitors are allowed to enter the cargo area. You can pay more to tour the rest of the plane.

Inside the cargo bay of the Spruce Goose!

The Spruce Goose, while spectacular, is really only a small (lolololol) part of what the museum has to offer. You’ll see lots of aircraft – most of it older – throughout the two museums (there’s one building for planes, and one for space).

The kids loved getting up close to everything. There was lots to learn, and tons to look at. We spent several hours at the museum, and could have stayed longer, had we not needed to get to Sunriver!

We had lunch at the museum. There are two cafes to choose one – one in each building. There is also a large outdoor playground and several tanks on display outside, too – you could easily picnic at the playground or by a tank!

If you have a family member who loves them some airplanes and are in the Portland area, you need to make the trup to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. TOTALLY worth the drive (everything is worth the drive in Oregon, really, thanks to stunning scenery everywhere you go). 

You can find hours and ticket prices here!