I love a bargain: a sweater off the clearance rack at Kohl’s with a 30% off coupon, a free Starbucks on my birthday, a buy-one, get-two-free deal at the grocery store. (When my children were little, they thought it was illegal to buy anything that wasn’t on sale.) So I thought it might be fun to compile a list of some of the free or almost-free things that I’ve discovered Chicago has to offer.
- Lincoln Park Zoo, home to some 1,200 animals, is one of the oldest zoos in the United States. It’s located, not surprisingly, in Lincoln Park, just a few miles north of downtown Chicago. Note that while admission is always free, parking, if you drive, will cost you. For info: www.lpzoo.org/
- The Museum of Contemporary Photography, located at 600 S. Michigan Ave., is a small museum that’s part of Columbia College Chicago. It houses both a permanent collection of more than10,000 photographs and the Midwest Photographers Project, a rotating archive of contemporary Midwestern artists. Admission is free. For info: www.mocp.org/
- The Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, contains an ever-changing abundance of exhibits and events. Depending on when you visit, you’ll probably find some combination of music, dance, theatre, film, lectures, paintings, drawings, architecture, and/or photography—and all for free. You can also take a guided tour of the building or just admire the world’s largest Tiffany glass dome. For info: www.chicagoculturalcenter.org/
- The Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows resides at Navy Pier, in the lower level of Festival Hall. It is home to 150 stained glass windows, dating from 1870 to 2001. Admission is free. For info: www.navypier.com/things2do/rides_attract/smith_museum.html
- The Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is also free, but you can read more about that in my article “Off the Beaten Path in Chicago” in the March issue of Intercom.
