Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum354

Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum is a wacky wonderland of vintage coin-operated devices, nickelodeons, and arcade games. From a mini carousel and Ferris wheel to pinball machines and high-tech holographic video games, Marvin's keeps the entire family entertained.

Stand-out oddities include a smoke-snorting buffalo head and a coin-operated two-headed baby. There are robotic fortune tellers, circus sideshow posters, and dozens of model airplanes. The arcade/museum does get crowded, though, so infants are best left home with a sitter.

A snack bar provides basics, like soda and ice cream.

Marvin's offers 90-minute private party packages for kids and adults. (In fact, Detroit's own Eminem held his 30th birthday party here.) The cost is $6-$7 per person for a choice of pizza or hot dogs, snacks, and beverages. Birthday kids get $5 in quarters. If your party has 10 kids or more, the birthday child gets a special Marvin's gift. A $20 deposit is needed to reserve the space.

Marvin's is listed in the World Almanac as one of the 100 Most Unusual Museums in the United States, and its location is unusual as well. It's sandwiched between halves of a shopping mall in a suburb north of Detroit.