On a cooler, cloudy Saturday morning, my kids and I visited the San Antonio Zoo in Brackenridge Park. So much going on: African children’s choir concerts, San Antonio Bat Fest activities (we did the crafts), Halloween decorations.
Next weekend, October 20-21, the zoo is participating in the Broadway Reach members’ open house. If you have a membership at any of these seven institutions, you get free admission to the other six:
- Brackenridge Park Conservancy
- McNay Art Museum
- San Antonio Botanical Garden (see the dinosaurs!)
- San Antonio Children’s Museum (my photos, and check out Christina Coker’s excellent post about Free Tuesday, coming up again October 16)
- San Antonio Museum of Art
- San Antonio Zoo
- Witte Museum (including the Kleberg South Texas Heritage Center)
They will also be selling discounted memberships during open house weekend. We don’t have memberships at the McNay or SAMA yet, so we might be visiting those museums and looking at their new membership offers.
Memberships are a great value for families. We go to the Children’s Museum so often that they recognize us at the front desk (Hi Susan!). With a membership, you don’t feel like you have to stay all day to get your money’s worth, so it’s a more pleasant experience for everyone. Also, you can go at quiet times, like the Witte at 4 p.m.—one hour before closing–or go to the zoo on a drizzly day and not worry about getting rained out.
One of the big perks of living in central San Antonio is being near these Broadway Reach institutions, which are fun AND educational. After the trip to the zoo, I had a nice chat with my son, who’s 5, and somewhat taciturn:
Mama: “What did you see at the zoo today?”
Son: “The Gibbons.”
Mama: “Do they have fur?”
Son: “Yeah.”
Mama: “What do they like to do?”
Son: “The Gibbons like to play on the ropes.”
Well, I’m impressed. Later, he told my sister, “The Gibbons like to climb the walls.” Totally worth the trip.
