TRAVEL WITH SERENA - MUSEUM DAY

Looking for something to do this coming Saturday? How about taking in a museum? Whether your tastes run more toward natural history, architecture, folk art, or painting and sculpture, hundreds of museums all across the country will be offering free admission on September 29th. To find a museum near you and get your free passes, visit Museum Day.   

TRAVEL WITH SERENA -- GUEST AUTHOR, KATHLEEN ERNST

Kathleen Ernst is the author of fourteen historical novels for young readers and the Chloe Ellefson mysteries (Midnight Ink.)  The second Chloe book, The Heirloom Murders, will be released on September 1^st.  She invites you to visit her blog, www.sitesandstories.wordpress.com, to follow her meanderings through the intersection of history and fiction.  See her website, www.kathleenernst.com, for more information about her books. Today Kathleen is here to talk about road trips, and she's also giving away a copy of one of her books. Read on to learn more. -- AP

Hitting the Road

If asked to name a guilty pleasure, I wouldn’t name smoking, drinking, or ice cream—even though Wisconsin, where I live, has fantastic ice cream.  My vice?  Road trips.  (I do at least drive a hybrid car.)

Since I earn my living as a writer, I travel to bookstores, libraries, schools, and conferences on a regular basis.  And since most of my work is either historical fiction or fiction that somehow pertains to the past, I add research trips to the mix.  You get the picture.  

Over the years I’ve learned that there are two kinds of road-trippers.

Some people simply want to get from Point A to Point B, as quickly as possible.  Me, I’m a meanderer.  I love to take back roads, poking around new areas.  I always try to schedule extra time into any road trip so I can pull over if something catches my eye.

I’m a sucker for those historical markers that lots of states sprinkle along their back roads.  I also love little community museums—the kind that don’t get a lot of attention, but exist due to the loving care of dedicated volunteers.

Meandering also means I have permission to stop for the unexpected encounter.  Once my husband and I stumbled over a strawberry feast being sponsored by a local historical society.  Inside a magnificent old building, an elderly woman played WWI-era tunes on an upright piano while guests gobbled shortcake.  More recently we chatted with the man painting the mural below, his small town’s tribute to all veterans.

This kind of travel is fun.  It also provides constant fodder for my novelist brain.  The protagonist of my Chloe Ellefson mysteries is curator at an historic site.  She loves exploring as much as I do.  Each book in the series will feature some new museum or site or historic theme.  I get to do the travel and research that makes that possible.  Am I lucky, or what?

How about you?  Are you a meanderer, or a straight-line traveler?  What’s been your favorite back roads discovery?

I’m grateful to Anastasia for allowing me to celebrate publication of The Heirloom Murders:  A Chloe Ellefson Mystery by guest-posting here.  And I’m grateful to readers!  I love my work, and I’d be nowhere without you.  Leave a comment, and your name will go into a drawing for a free book.  The winner can choose any of my seventeen titles.  The Heirloom Murders, one of my American Girl mysteries, a Civil War novel—the choice will be yours!  To learn more, please visit my website,www.kathleenernst.com.

Thanks for joining us today, Kathleen. You've given me the urge to ramble. Now if gas prices would only come back down... Readers, would you like a copy of one of Kathleen's books? Post a comment to enter the drawing. -- AP

MONEY MATTERS WITH SHEILA--GET IN FREE!

Have you gone on a family outing recently? The movies? A major league baseball game? The zoo? What used to be weekly outings have turned into yearly events for most families, thanks to the outrageous entry fees now charged at family-friendly venues. Money guru Sheila Conway is hear today with some exciting news about free events this coming Saturday. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia. This Saturday, September 25 ^th, as part of Smithsonian magazine’s annual Museum Day, hundreds of participating museums and cultural institutions across the country will be free to all visitors with a Museum Day ticket. To get your tickets, just go to Smithsonian.com/museumday.

Some of the featured museums include:

• Littleton Museum, Littleton,CO
• Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT
• Seminole Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, Cewiston, FL
• CDC’s Global health Odyssey Museum, Atlanta, GA
• OZ Museum, Wamego, KS
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
• Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, TX
• World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame, Long Beach, WA
• Children’s Museum of the Arts, NY, NY
• Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Morris Plains, NJ
• California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL

These are but of few of the places that will be open for free on Saturday. Check out the Smithsonian website where you can search by state to find other museums and cultural venues in your area.


Thanks, Sheila! Who doesn’t like free, right? What are some of your favorite inexpensive day outings? Let’s hear from you. Post a comment this week to be entered into the drawing for a free book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP