What to See in Carlsbad - Top Sights and Attractions

The Museum of Making Music, is a division of the NAMM Foundation of the National Association of Music Merchants, a 501 non-profit organization located in Carlsbad, California. The museum opened to the public on March 5, 2000. Its mission is to "explore the accomplishments and impact of the music products industry through educational and interactive exhibitions and programs and directly connect visitors with hands-on music making."

The museum's exhibits cover three main components of the music industry: making the instruments, providing the instruments, and using the instruments. The museum's galleries feature more than 450 vintage instruments and artifacts, hundreds of audio samples of popular music and a visitors interactive area with live, hands-on instruments, along with Sit 'N Play areas near the end of the main galleries. In addition to its permanent collection, the museum self-curates temporary exhibitions that revolve around a core theme or idea. These exhibitions are on public display at the museum for 6 to 8 months.

During its first 20 years of existence, the museum curated public exhibits about the history of American popular music, the manufacture and retailing of musical instruments and the history of the music products industry from the 1890s to the present day. In 2020, the museum announced they would undergo a major renovation. The renovation was completed in June 2021.

The museum organizes public events, performances and lectures to entertain, educate and inform audiences about the heritage and benefits of making music.^[2]

Rancho de los Quiotes, today known as the Leo Carrillo Historic Park, is a historic estate near Carlsbad, California. The rancho was built as a weekend retreat for actor Leo Carrillo, who designed the property in the style of Spanish hacienda estates. Situated on land once inhabited by the Luiseño people, the original 2,538 acres were located on an old Spanish land grant. Carrillo purchased 1,700 acres for $17 an acre in 1937, adding additional acreage two years later. Over the next few years he designed and built a working rancho in tribute to his family, the Carrillo family of California, who arrived in California in the 1700s.

In 1976, the city of Carlsbad acquired the 10.5 acres (4.2 ha) of the ranch that had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and added an additional 16.4 acres (6.6 ha) to create the Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park. There are 17 contributing properties on the ranch, including the main adobe house and "Deedie's house", a smaller adobe artist studio built especially for his wife Edith^[3]

Tourist attraction in Carlsbad, California. The Flower Fields is a flower garden found on the Carlsbad Ranch in Carlsbad, California. It is open to visitors once a year in spring from March 1 through Mothers Day. The area has a number of attractions, including its "Tecolote Giant Ranunculus", a greenhouse filled with cymbidium orchids, a 300-by-170-foot American flag made out of red, white, and blue petunias, and musical events. Educational tours are hosted every year for both children and adults; in 2015, more than 7,000 school children were expected to visit through one of these educational tours.

The fields experience attendance of anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000 visitors every year from all over the world. The fields have received positive press from outlets such as CBS News Los Angeles, NBC News 4 Southern California, and The Huffington Post Travel, which praised the quality of the flora and recommended a visit.

In addition, Antique Tractor-Wagon rides are available, transporting visitors around the planted fields, dropping them off to enjoy the scenery, and picking them up to return to the start point. The Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum of Vista, California provides the Antique Tractor & Wagons.^[6]