A couple weeks ago, hubby and the kids and I went across town to do an errand. That part of town just happens to have my daughter’s favorite attraction, The Lighthouse. Every time we cross the bridge to the island, she yells out about the lighthouse and asks if we can go there. She has been there one other time, with my husband, when a friend who works there got her in for free.

Normally, an adventure up the lighthouse costs $12. Per person. It takes about 7 minutes for a 4 year old to climb. That’s a lot of dough for such an event, but it is admittedly fun and the view is spectacular.

That day, when my daughter asked to go up it, I remembered that for the month of October, a trip up was free for residents of our town. With only a few days left in the month, I decided to go for it. We made an impromptu trip up there just the two of us. Hubby had to stay down below and walk the grounds with our son since he isn’t big enough to go up it yet.

This got me thinking that there are times throughout the year here that many of the historic spots and tourist attractions are free or very inexpensive for residents. By signing up for my town’s event calendar, I can easily find events and promotions like this so we can take advantage of the fun things to do around town without spending too much.

For the month of November, there are other attractions around here that are free for residents. So, we took advantage of the free trolley tours that go around town today. We met up with a few friends and their kids and all rode around town, learning fun historic tidbits about where we live while the kids enjoyed riding on a big trolley.

It is definitely fun to do these things when friends or family come to town so we can show them around. But it’s also fun to do them on our own just because. No reason to live around all the beautiful and interesting things in our town and forget to enjoy them simply because we see them everyday and begin to take them for granted. Whether it’s visiting a historic site or taking time out to go to the beach for a date with my daughter or for an afternoon escape with both kids to play, it’s always good to remember that frugal fun for me and the kids can involve simply enjoying the little things our town has to offer.