Becoming a local tourist, vol. 2: Museums

There are tons of perks to living within proximity to a city. And some of them include reduced entrance fees to museums and zoos in the area on given days. These organizations like to reward the local folk with a tempting offer to visit them. Now, being members of museums and zoos are a good idea if you plan to visit often, which is ideal for families. But if you only venture out to such venues every once in a while, read up on when these places host locals at a discount, or even for free. Often times, this will greatly reduce what you'll spend on admission to special events or exhibits that may be there at the time of your visit.

Consider Milwaukee:

• The Milwaukee Public Museum hosts a free day to County residents on Mondays. This doesn't include special/visiting exhibits, however, it will off-set the cost of entrance for such things. Normal admission is $12, with special exhibit prices varying.
• The Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory (aka The Mitchell Park Domes) gives Milwaukee County residents free admission on Mondays from 9am to Noon. This saves you $6.50.
• The Milwaukee Art Museum offers free entrance every first Thursday of the month. The normal admission fee is $12.
• Milwaukee County Zoo offers Family Free days on specific days throughout the year (see their website for details), as well as discounted admission to the zoo for Milwaukee Co. residents all year, with Wednesdays a further reduced $8 admission. Parking is additional, so consider going with a group to off-set the cost.

You can also save money by buying a multi-pass to varying venues depending on the city you live in or are visiting.

For example: In Milwaukee, we have the Charles Allis Art Museum - Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museums - Pabst Mansion Pass for $12. Each of the first two are regularly $5 each, with the Pabst mansion normal admission costing $9 ($10 during the Christmas season), saving you $7.

On a side note, the Charles Allis Art Museum hosts a series of classic movies on certain Wednesday nights, perfect for a night away from the kids or an evening with the girls. It's free with admission to the museum.

The Harley-Davidson Museum offers a "Double Play" that gives you admission to the museum and a terrace seat at a Brewers game for only $16. The museum admission alone is valued at that, so it's like getting in a game for free.

Other affordable adult entrance fees include:

The Eisner American Museum of Advertising and Design - $5

The Haggerty Museum of Art (at Marquette University) - free (donations accepted)

West Allis Historical Society - free (limited hours)

The Grohmann Museum (at Milwaukee School of Engineering) - $5

Jewish Museum Milwaukee - $6

Mitchell Gallery of Flight (at General Mitchell Int'l Airport) - free, though there is parking fees at the airport.

Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum - $5

Check out the many museums in your area by Googling your city, or picking up a visitors' guide. Learn about your area, have some fun, and save money all at the same time!

Becoming a local tourist, vol. 1: History

Whether or not you find yourself with bored youngsters or need an interesting place to bring a date (on a budget), consider researching your local historical associations. The maintenance of age-old properties often offers you the chance to learn more about your city or town.

The Milwaukee County Historical Society operates several properties, including a farm, that brings the past back to life for those who visit. Their main center also offers periodic exhibits to the public (not currently due to renovations that will end in August 2010). Surrounding counties, like Washington, Waukesha, and Racine counties, also have museums and other properties of note operating most if not all year, giving you the opportunity to expand knowledge of the area.

Milwaukee is also home to the Northpoint Lighthouse, a fixture in the city since the 1870's after it replaced the original lighthouse built two decades before.

My mother was born and raised in Mower County, Minnesota. Though not nearly as populated as the city she currently lives in, the area is still rich with history, including a GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall built in 1891 for use by the fraternal order made up of sixteen Civil War veterans and the Women's Relief Corps. This is one of only two still in existence in Minnesota. Spring Valley, in neighboring Fillmore County is home to the Wilder homestead, the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder's husband, Almanzo.

From somewhere else? Consider Googling your county or parish's history and see if they have a historical society and what they might have to offer.

Admissions tend to be on the cheaper end of the scale, less than the cost of a movie, if not being free altogether.

A Learning Experience

A friend of mine invited me to visit the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University a few weeks ago to see an interesting exhibit of Thomas Woodruff's Freak Parade. This particular museum is free to the public and is a great way to spend some time on a lazy afternoon. You can free your wallet of a few bucks by offering a donation in the name of art at the door, but this isn't required (much like Como Park Zoo and Conservatory).

It turns out that there are a number of universities around the country that also feature museums on a variety of subjects, from science to culture. Not all of these museums are free, but admissions tend to be less than other larger or more well known museums in your area. Furthermore, you're contributing to the advancement of that particular museum through your donations.

To get more information about these types of museums, consider Googling universities in your area. Another way to find these museums is to visit the Association of College & University Museums & Galleries website and then Googling a particular museum (unfortunately there are no direct links from this website).

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory

So, we were up in the Twin Cities a couple weekends ago, and we took in Como Zoo, mainly because it's free.

I have to note some hints for taking this place in and keeping it cheap.

1. The conservatory and zoo itself are free - Como Town and the carousel aren't. The carousel is only $1.50 per ticket, unless you are there during one of their free days (there are only five this year). For more info on the prices of tickets and activities at Como Town, click here.
   
2. Feel free to pay the donation of $2 per adult and $1 per child - not required, but still relatively cheap for a neat recreational activity.
3. Bring your own food! I cannot stress this enough. We blew any budget in the cafeteria. For a veggie sandwich and icee I paid over $9! And then we saw these slick families dragging around coolers. These were not for show. Save money and bring your own food and water. Especially if you're there on a hot day like we were. (Granted, paying that much for a meal is helping to keep the zoo cheap, but if you're rocking a tight budget, bring your own food. If you do decide to get a water or soda from one of the vendors throughout the zoo, you'll pay about $2.50 a bottle.)
4. Consider going during the week and not on major school vacations. Granted, we went on a Saturday at the start of the summer break. It wasn't overly crowded, but everyone had their kids along, so there was a lot of crying and whining. Most families won't mind this, but singles and older adults might want to try an alternate time to go.

To see more details on the park, zoo, or conservatory, click here.