For a taste of something different, check out some of these unique museums, all within a 250-mile drive of Columbia.

● The Titanic Museum in Branson is a two-story, ship-shaped attraction built at half scale and anchored in water to create the illusion of being at sea. More than 400 artifacts are on display, and a 90-minute self-guided tour takes visitors through replicas of the Titanic’s grand staircase, bridge, first-class staterooms and third-class cabins.

For more information, visit www.titanicbranson.com or call (800) 381-7670.

● The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog is a collection of more than 700 pieces of original artwork and decorative objects devoted to dogs, including works by Maud Earl, a Victorian-era painter known for her detailed pieces.

For more information, visit www.museumofthedog.org or call (314) 821-3647.

● The Museum of Funeral Customs in Springfield, Ill., gives visitors a look at U.S. funeral and mourning customs; funerary art; and the history of the funerary profession.

Collections include a re-created 1920s embalming room, a replica of a middle-class American home funeral setting (circa 1870), horse-drawn and motorized hearses for city and rural funeral services, embalming equipment, caskets and coffins showing changing tastes and designs, chapel equipment and furnishing, examples of post-mortem photography, artifacts of mourning clothing, jewelry and adornment.

For more information, call (217) 544-3480 or visit www.funeralmuseum.org.

● For more than 100 years, the Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph, originally known as "State Lunatic Asylum No. 2," was a place where the mentally ill could receive treatment. At one point, it housed more than 3,000 patients. Today, the original admitting ward and treatment clinic houses the museum, which features full-size replicas of treatment devices, interactive displays, audio-visuals, artifacts and documents that chart the evolution of psychiatric treatment.

For more information, call (816) 232-8471 or visit www.stjoseph museum.org/glore.php.

● Leila’s Hair Museum in Independence is a collection of more than 2,000 items made from human hair, including wreaths and jewelry. During Victorian times, jewelry made from hair was worn to honor the dead and was considered a normal part of the mourning process. Wreaths were often arranged in horseshoe formations and included the hair of many relatives, serving as a family tree of sorts. Leila’s Hair Museum also serves as the headquarters for the Victorian Hairwork Society, a group for hair artists.

For more information, ccolumbiatribune.com.

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