Saving Centsably: Memberships save money
In early August I took my children to Alabama for a week-long educational field trip. While my oldest son was participating in Space Academy, I camped with my children at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s R.V. Park.
First, I can completely recommend this particular R.V. park as being an affordable and interesting place to stay. Based on what type of campsite you choose, your cost will be $18 or $20 per night. Because our camper is smaller, we had an $18 per night campsite.
My kids enjoyed watching the space campers launch their rockets in the field nearby -- and found it so enthralling to wake up and see the lights from the Space & Rocket Center nearby.
While my oldest son was off having his own space-themed adventures, we took advantage of free museums and free-with-membership museums. First, we spent a day at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, free of charge. Did you know that when you have a child, grandchild, niece, nephew or even a friend enrolled at Space Camp, you have the opportunity to visit the Space & Rocket Center free of charge? It’s true.
Each year before the weekend coordinator tells the parents goodbye as they are leaving their children, he encourages parents to bring family and friends back to the Space Center for a free day of fun and learning. On that Sunday, we saved $90 that we would have spent if we visited the Space & Rocket Center at any other time.
On Monday, we got up and headed to Tuscumbia, Alabama, where we visited the Helen Keller home site, Ivy Green. Because I am a member of AAA, I did not have to pay full price for my ticket. We toured the site and learned about Keller and her life. We paid only $14.
Later that day, we visited Tishomingo State Park in Tishomingo, Mississippi. This 3-mile-wide state park is just off the Natchez Trace. I explained to the gate employee that we had never been to Tishomingo and we were just exploring. She waived the $4 vehicle entrance fee. While we were there we crossed (on foot) a swinging bridge built in the 1930s! If we’re ever near Tishomingo again, we’ll be camping there -- the park was beautiful!
While we were at Ivy Green on Monday, we found a brochure about the Jesse Owens Memorial in Decatur, Alabama. Because we’re always up for an adventure, we headed west again -- stopping first at the Cook’s Pest Control Natural Science Museum. This museum was free and has thousands of insect specimens and all sorts of other animals to view and admire. My children loved it!
We headed on to the Jesse Owens site and passed an Indian mound museum. I called and asked about admission. This educational site also was free. On Tuesday, we visited all three of these wonderful places absolutely free!
This is only about half the fun we had on our trip. I’ll fill you in on the rest next week -- and tell you the grand total we spent on a week of wonderful adventures. It will be less than you probably think!
If you are planning a vacation, be sure to look up your route and examine all the interesting places you can find at www.roadsideamerica.com. That is where we found information about the Cook’s Pest Control museum and about some other historic places we discovered along the way.
In any case, come back next week to learn more about our trip to Alabama and how I kept this trip affordable and fun!
Contact writer Rachael Mercer at savingcentsably@gmail.com.
This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Saving Centsably: Memberships save money ."