Liberace Musuem: A Nice Place To Visit

Liberace. For the younger readers, he was a very famous pianist who performed around the world and had a huge warm spot in Las Vegas. He also grew up in West Allis, WI. and went from humble beginnings to one of the highest paid musicians in Las Vegas history.
Liberace has a museum in Las Vegas and most famous performers cannot say the same. If you think this is just a small time museum that has little tourist attraction, you would be wrong.
I never seen Liberace perform nor do I know his music and certainly, my kids and my wife have not either. But the museum does not concentrate on his music.
When you enter the museum, you will see some interesting information about Liberace and Las Vegas. But when you get into the main area, you will find history. First, you will see Liberace's history in Wisconsin. For instance, you can see his first performing contract at the Plankington Red Room in downtown Milwaukee and his pay was $45 a week. You can also see other documents. Then you can see Liberace's old cars. Just amazing. But the real show piece was the different pianos. Some of the pianos are from 1700 and 1800's. If you a fan of Pawn Stars, you can appreciate the history behind these pianos. One of the piano's used to belong to George Gershwin, a huge grand piano.
After that, you go to another building and you can see Liberace's costumes that he worn through the years. Some were gaudy and others were pretty cool. Just imagine that these costumes were seen by millions of people. You also got to see the bedroom he had in Palm Springs. Also on display is the largest rhinestone that weighs over 51 pounds. He had a small bedroom because, supposedly he wanted to relive his life when lived in West Allis. And you know he is proud to be a Wisconsinite. On the outside wall of the 2nd building, there is a huge wall with the musical notes to the Beer Barrel Polka. And it may be a coincidence, the Rumrunner Bar (a Packer bar) and Badger Cafe is across the street from the museum. Go there for the wings.
Why you may not be a fan of Liberace or even know who he is, this is a museum that will tell stories about Las Vegas, the Milwaukee area and history of pianos and see some very different types of cars. Even my kids enjoyed the museum, and that takes some doing. If you like history, you will probably enjoy the museum.
For more information: http://www.liberace.org/
They also have a free shuttle from the strip to the museum.