Amazing museums for free

A few times a year we travel with Sean to his various conferences. Sometimes we are in a big city and other times in out of the way places. Regardless, a night in a hotel with a pool and free breakfast is a big occasion. I'm always looking for ways to make our little trips affordable and educational as we make ourselves busy during the day, so we often hit the nearest Science museum.

Several years ago I realized that many of these museums are connected through the Association or Science and Technology Centers. Their Passport Program allows a family membership at one museum to be equivalent to a family membership (or at least a deep discount) at all the others! That's about 500 science museums.

We purchased our membership this year in Ft. Wayne's Science Center for $55 and will use it to enter museums with memberships much higher in cost. With this program we've been able to visit the Toronto Science Center, Science Central (Ft. Wayne, IN), Nashville's Adventure Science Center and U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Without this reciprocal membership we never would have been able to pay for nine admissions each time. This summer we plan to stop by several of the museums that Michigan has to offer while Sean is busy with his conference.

There's nothing like a day in a museum with seven kids. Trust me.

This Works for Me and I hope it will work for you, too. Find other great ideas at WFMW.