Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention - Gainesville (FL)

5 /5 Elena J: I’ve been to a lot of museums, from the sublime — The Louvre in Paris and the British Museum — to the ridiculous Museum of the Sea and Indian near Destin (lots of withered shark(?) embryos in yellowing jars) and West Virginia’s Mothman ($4 entry, ‘nuff said). The Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention is the only one that hasn’t left me glassy-eyed from information overload. A mind, after all, is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. While inventors are its focus, the magic is in the creative ways it pays homage to those who make our lives better through science. Cade — the lead inventor who created the formula for Gatorade, originally called Cade-ade — was a pioneer of out-of-the-box thinking. His story exemplifies the struggle inventors face bringing ideas to light and ultimately to the consumer. While the museum focuses on his career and also recognizes other players in the Gatorade success story, it gives equal time to the wonders of invention Staff turns learning into fun, even for old timers who barely passed science and math classes. Whether perfecting the art of homemade slime, using a 3-D printer or experimenting in its two labs (“Osmosis” was the topic when I visited), there is no shortage of activities to keep minds engaged and more importantly, open to new ideas. Dr. Cade, a nephrologist on the University of Florida faculty, wasn’t primarily an inventor, but he provided museum seed money in 2004 to create a tribute to a renegade breed. Men and women who swim against the tide of the status quo to reach new shores. He died in 2007 and didn’t live to see it fully conceived, but his daughter and son-in-law, Phoebe and Richard Miles took up the torch. In 2018, they christened the Cade Museum for Creativity and invention, all 21,000 square feet of it. Always evolving, they currently are expanding an outdoor musical maze that will be a mini-forest filled with instruments the young and young-at-heart can try their hand at. Among many talents, Dr. Cade was an accomplished musician. Teachers take note. All this is from a man some said was “too dumb for medical school.” One of the most inspiring artifacts in the museum is a letter his instructor sent home to his parents, saying he would not amount to anything if he did not quit cutting up in class. An added attraction of the museum is across the street, where Cade’s beloved Studebaker collection is housed. They are only on display during special events throughout the year, such as the Inventivity Bash in early May.

5 /5 Christin Asbel: Its a small but interesting museum with some cool activities. Perfect for young kids and adults. I found the journey of gatorade invention to be cool and then puzzles enjoyable. I cant say I would go out of my way for it but its not a stop. We homeschool so it was a fun place.

4 /5 Lisa Vickers: It was nice and clean, the exhibits were fun, and staff was very helpful. I loved the bathroom bc it had interesting facts about inventors. My favorite exhibit was the Rube Goldberg room where you could interact with contraptions & move pieces around so that a ball could continually roll while do things like chime a bell. Its best for children since there are a lot of activities for them there. I was, also, able to get a wheelchair for my Mother so she could enjoy it. Loved it.

5 /5 Nicole Veldhuis: Our family had a fantastic time at the Cade museum. It was very engaging for the whole family and especially my 8 year old! We stayed several hours and honestly could’ve spent more time there if we didn’t need to leave for lunch. Lots of things to see/do and the staff we encountered were awesome. But special shout out to Caleb, Cassidy, and Sam as they were super knowledgeable and helped my kiddo have a wonderful day! We’ll be back when we’re in the area.