Police

"Life is a beautiful word except when used in a sentence" this Miami museum quotes one prison inmate as saying, and after viewing some of the crowd-pleasing exhibits here you'll see why: scary attractions include replicas of jail cells (both current and vintage), an electric chair, gas chamber, and "tramp chair," a 19th-century iron device used to hold prisoners.

The core of this hall, however, is its thorough exploration of law enforcement history, with a permanent exhibition of 11,000 items. The exhibit consists mostly of weapons (machine guns, hand guns, rifles, billy clubs), badges, hats and uniforms and archival photographs. The museum is also home to marble tablets bearing the names of American police officers killed in the line of duty since 1960.

3801 Biscayne Blvd., at 38th St., Miami, FL, Phone: 305/573-0070. Cost: $12. Daily 10-5:30. www.aphf.org