Since the holidays, many of us have spent winter days cooped up inside, shuttling between work, school and home while the calendar crawls toward spring.
If you ask us, there’s never been a better time to throw on your coat and get some fresh air. Thankfully, we’ve got a brief break in the weather, with the sun shining through — and Brookfield Zoo has given us another reason to venture outdoors.
As we plod through another Midwest winter, the Brookfield Zoo has expanded its free admission days through January and February (except for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day), offering a rare invitation to bundle up and make the most of the season with family and friends without spending a dime on entry. Cooler temperatures often mean animals well adapted to the cold, like polar bears and wolves, are more active, plus you’ll deal with fewer crowds and have the freedom to pop in for an hour without feeling like you need to see everything to justify the cost.
This is one of the many benefits of living in Chicagoland — our great institutions offer not only sights and sounds, but also welcome us in with free days that give folks on every kind of budget the chance to experience what makes the Chicago area so special. But because we call this place home, we often forget that we’re surrounded by world-class museums and attractions. That’s especially easy to do at this time of year, as the days are dark and gray and the cold keeps us indoors. We often view our parks, downtown restaurants and galleries as sites meant for tourists and visitors. Our advice? Don’t. Chicago is meant to be enjoyed by its people.
For those of us who are disinclined to brave the wind and cold, Brookfield isn’t the only place to score a free visit. Adler Planetarium, the Art Institute of Chicago and other museums have a smattering of free days for Illinois residents in the next couple of months, too. And, of course, you can always see Sue the T. rex for free on Wednesdays at the Field Museum. In our view, winter can be the best time of year to visit many of Chicago’s finest attractions. Where summer crowds can add a hassle element to the experience, winter brings a sense of calm, making it easier to linger, explore and actually enjoy what these places were built to offer.
So take a cocooning break and remind yourself once again why you love this place so much.
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