Ordinary, But Either Free Or Inexpensive

In light of the economy and the number of people I know that are unemployed, I thought this week I'd write about free and inexpensive things to do, instead of "unusual" things to do. You'd be suprised at all the special offers!

LACMA - The Los Angeles County Museum of Contemporary Art offers "Pay What You Wish" admission any day after 5pm; Free admission on the 2nd Tuesday of the month; and Free Holiday Mondays on various holidays throughout the year. For more info, visit: http://www.lacma.org/info/HoursDirections.aspx#free

MOCA - The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles offers free admission on Thursdays between 5pm and 8pm. This offer applies to MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Admission to the MOCA Pacific Design Center is always free. For more info, visit: http://www.moca.org/museum/visit_home.php

Getty Center & Getty Villa - If you've never been to the Getty, you're missing out. Both locations are absolutely gorgeous and FREE! Parking for either location is $10 per car. For more info, visit: http://www.getty.edu/visit/

The California Science Center - Admission to the permanent exhibition galleries is free, but they do accept donations. Right now they're featuring a DEA exhibit, which is pretty fascinating. For more info, visit: http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/GenInfo/PlanningYourVisit/Hours/Hours.php

Natural History Museum - Admission is free on the first Tuesday of each month. The pictures posted in this entry are for this museum. For more info, visit: http://www.nhm.org/information/

As far as parking is concerned for both the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum, you can park for free on Menlo Ave. between Exposition and King. Right in front of the Los Angeles Swim Stadium, there are several free 2 hour parking spots.

The Skirball Cultural Center - All exhibits are free on Thursdays. For more info, visit: http://www.skirball.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26

Huntington Library - Admission is free to all visitors on the first Thursday of every month with advanced tickets. Hours on Free Day are 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. For more info, visit: http://www.huntington.org/Information/hours.html

Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens - Admission is free on the third Tuesday of the month (the tram is not available on free days). For more info, visit: http://www.arboretum.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=getFeature&catagory=about&FeatureID=dcc4890b-0952-11d6-a271-00d0b76949cb&PageNumber=1&CFID=1306186&CFTOKEN=35647931&StoryID=b9e905bc-1e8b-11d7-a27a-00d0b76949cb

Center Theater Group - The Ahmanson Theater, the Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk Douglas Theater make up the Center Theater Group. All 3 of them offer great shows and you can get tickets for as little as $20 through a program called Hot Tix. Apparently, the theater puts aside a small percentage of tickets for each show and sells them for $20 each. The catch is that if you order over the phone, they won't tell you where the seats are located, but if you go to the box office, they'll tell you. If you order over the phone, they'll also mail the tickets to you for free and will not charge you any lousy Ticketmaster fees. I've purchased a few of these Hot Tix seats and I've sat in the front row (on the end), in a box and in the front row, center of the balcony. Not bad, if you're on a tight budget...and aren't picky about your seats. For more info, visit: http://www.centertheatregroup.org/

I also recommend you check out http://www.goldstar.com/. They offer discount tickets to many shows, sporting events, etc in the Los Angeles area. They do have a service fee on each transaction, but its still lower than Ticketmasters' (can you tell I'm not a fan of those fees?). If you decide to sign up, please use this link: http://www.goldstar.com/tr/nc/6112/908640/?p=f908640ff26&ref=sub908640&mar=news6112

Last but not least, if you, like me, have no shame using coupons, you may want to consider getting your hands on an Entertainment '09 book http://www.entertainment.com/. The book offers some great deals (e.g. buy one get one half price or buy one get one free) for restaurants, museums, movie theaters, etc.