Could Free Admission Beat Your January Blues?

It sure could for me! I don't know if it was the torrential downpour of rain last night or the bare-shelved Gap store at the Christiana Mall on Sunday, but the week after New Year's always feels like a Debbie Downer to me. Other than a boost in the form of no work on MLK day, it's a long stretch to spring. However, the Brandywine Museums and Gardens have something fantastic to offer you this Saturday, January 10th, and it won't cost you a penny. Literally.

All 8 of the Brandywine museums are offering free admission this Saturday for all ages. Between Longwood Gardens, Delaware Art Museum, Winterthur and more where is one even to start? As a veteran ultimate Disney-World park hopper (I've done all 4 in one day), I'm here to offer you an itinerary for your free museum day. I'll even tell you how much you'll save the entire day.

9:30 a.m.: Rise and Shine! Start in the southern Wilmington area along Rt 141 with some DuPont lovin' at either Hagley Museum($11) or the Nemours Mansion ($12). Depending on the weather you may or may not want to take in all of their outdoor property, which gives an excuse to host a Spring Open House (take notes Brandywine Museums!)

12:00 p.m.: Hungry for lunch? Not just yet, grab a granola bar and a coffee at a Wawa and get on 95, depending on your art tastes, stop at DCCA (free normally) or Delaware Art Museum ($12). They're both so fantastic I really couldn't reccommend one over the either.

2:00 p.m. Ok now you can have lunch. The possibilities are endless, head into Little Italy, or keep heading down Rt. 52 to Buckley's Tavern. Just don't fill up on too much of their crab dip or a food coma might prevent you from getting to your final stop.

3:00 p.m. Last but not least, go right to Winterthur ($22) or left to Longwood ($16). It is the last weekend you can see the Christmas decor at Longwood so if you aren't too sick of the holidays, this is the spot for you. The current exhibition at Winterthur, Feeding Desires, has gotten rave reviews so if spoons and knives are your thing, make that right to Winterthur.

Good luck, and if you can't make the trip from Dover to Wilmington, just come to the Biggs..... we're always free. :)

UPDATE (1/9/08): Trish from comments made me aware of two museums out of the ten Brandwine Treasure are not offering free admission on Saturday. Both Longwood and Nemours are not offering free admission. I did overlook Rockwood Museum, Brandywine River Museum, and the Delaware Museum of Natural History as options. These are three great museums to visit as well!