With no money for vacations and more people taking staycations, other cheap excursions are gaining in popularity. We went to the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C. this summer. They are free and filled with things to keep a family occupied for days. We walked around the National Mall and Arlington Cemetery for free. Some people, however, are going to greater lengths to spend less.
Take the sewage treatment plant tour in San Francisco. So many people are, it’s smelling room only. Crowds watching crap, literally.
I understand not flying to an exotic resort, but it seems like touring a series of concrete silos and lagoons filled with human waste would be way down on the list of activities, even if you were completely broke. Just save the gas money and follow a plumber around unclogging toilets. It has much more variety and the plumber could use the company.
Record numbers of people are also bringing their families to the Texas Prison Museum to see the electric chair – never a popular attraction for generations of criminals.
Others go to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly. Looks like a hell of a good time there, too. Are prisons so fascinating because 1 in every 100 Americans is in prison today? Perhaps people are going to the prisons to visit relatives, or are scouting out possible future digs for when it is their turn in the slammer.
Of course, if doo doo and prisons are not your thing, there’s the Spam Museum in Minnesota, all 16,500 square feet of Spamishness. People are pretty desperate for something to do, but I will admit the Spam Museum might be cool.
In Arkansas, you can get a Boogerburger while staring at the world’s only two-story outhouse (see a pattern forming here?). There is a dog mausoleum out there somewhere (I just didn’t want to know) and a giant, talking cow at a place called the Cheese Chalet. Sounds so romantic.
For only $5, you can check out the Oasis Bordello Museum in Wallace, Idaho. I-Da-Ho, I get it. On many tours across the country, they give visitors a little sample of the wears. I’m betting that doesn’t happen at the Bordello Museum.
I’ve taken the Coors plant tour in Golden, Colorado and would love to take the free tour of the Winnebago plant. In fact, here is a list of every state’s factory tours: www.factorytoursusa.com.
Most staycations mean just that. Staying at home, hanging out on the deck, sitting in the yard, basically all the same stuff you would do on a cruise, except you have to make your own animals out of towels. Granted, you will not get to see Ol Sparky or smell a city’s worth of sewage, or eat a Boogerburger, but when you think about it, that is all good news.
