We certainly hit several observatories in school trips to New York and Philadelphia (other major cities were outside the range of what we could get to on a day trip), although I wondered as a kid what was in Greenwich, Connecticut. (Answer: nothing for us.)

A healthy fraction of the crown jewels were, yes, things which would be of use at least in principle, particularly in stuff like plate or church-supporting utensils. It's not all crowns whipped up so the locals could see someone have a crown put on his head.