The benefits of membership

It was a no-brainer, really, to join the science museum when we visited there with my family at Thanksgiving time.  To visit the museum and the omnitheater would have cost our family $86 + $12 for parking.  Our membership cost $99 + $5 for parking.  So for $6 more than we would have paid for a one-time visit, we got unlimited admission + omni-films, for an entire year, plus a tax deduction.  If just one of us went to one more movie, the membership would be paid for, and I had already planned on taking Roger and Pal on a field trip to the museum.  So we joined.

When we visited the children's museum with Hubby's family at Christmas-time, it was a bit more of a stretch, but we went ahead and became members there, too.  I knew there was a children's museum field trip in our future as well.

I have to say, I love being a member.  I enjoy visiting museums, but I always feel like I have to see every. single. part of every. single. exhibit while I'm visiting, because I don't know when or even if I'll get back to see anything that I missed, all while trying to keep 5 individuals with different interests in the same general vicinity of each other.  It's exhausting.  And it makes me hungry.  Now we have the freedom to explore as much or as little of the museum as we want, in as much or as little detail as we want, because we can come again any time.

The children's museum near us has exhibits that change with some frequency.  It's so nice to be able to go just to visit the newest exhibit.

Every winter the science museum near us has a film festival, during which they show 5 or 6 films on a rotating basis.  Because of our membership, we were able to see just about all of them (Hubby loves omnifilms).

Another benefit?  We can visit other museums in other places.  For free.  We visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago when we were visiting my parents over spring break.  I'm already wondering if we want to go back there for a long weekend this fall just to visit museums.  There's one in Duluth that I've wanted to visit, but have never made it--now, it's free, so maybe we'll get there this summer.

So our memberships expire in November and December.  I don't know if we'll renew, but I do know that if we don't, I'll miss it--the benefits of membership.