Memorial Day To-Dos for the Bored and Uninspired

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Activities

Visit a military cemetery or remembrance site – first and foremost, the spirit of Memorial Day is to pay gratitude and remembrance to those who have fought for and fallen on behalf of our country. This is a great way to pay heed to those who sacrificed; many cemeteries open up to the public on Memorial Day and some will allow volunteer work like cleaning markers, laying flowers and more.
Volunteer – aside from the above mentioned memorial site, volunteer at your local VA or other military focused organization. Most locations need help and this is great way to give back.
Go to a theme park – whether it’s roller coasters or water slides, get there early to make the most of your day and ride all the rides (or eat all the snacks – my go to). It’s a holiday weekend and locals and travelers alike are likely to hit up these destinations, making it a crowded one. Bonus – most offer annual passes and because it’s so early in the year, this is a great way to make the rest of the year’s visits a cheap one.
Go to the aquarium – this is a great way to learn about your local and worldwide aquatic habitants, plus most of them are air conditioned (a staple for most places right now). If you’ve got toddlers, there’s usually child-friendly interactive activities for them like tactile boards, video engagement rooms, touching pools and more.
Go to the fair – late spring usually marks the kick off to many fairs, with Memorial Day being one of the busiest weekends. While waiting line to park can be a daunting task, there’s often lots of unique food finds, shopping and activities to explore inside. Be sure to check your local stores and soda cans for discounts!
Go to the movies – this is a popular choice and, if anything, for the ice cold air conditioning. Memorial Day 2023’s biggest release will be the live action version of The Little Mermaid, but there are other anticipated releases like The Machine and Kandahar. Make sure to find deals on your local theater’s app (mine has discount ticket Tuesdays, free popcorn and more).

All things FOOD

Try out a new recipe – while food is currently more expensive due to inflation, there’s a lot of great grocery sales happening this weekend. Go through all of those saved recipes on Instagram Reels and TikTok and find one you’ve always meant to make – is it a chewy brownie recipe? A new way to make the perfect steak? Want to take a stab at decorating a two tier cake? No time like the present!
Take advantage of promotions – OK, so you don’t want to cook anything or try one of the 300 recipes saved. No shame in that! There’s a lot of great food promotions going on this weekend from national retailers like free drinks at Panera (join their unlimited Sips club to get free drinks through July 4), 1-cent Junior Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy’s (with other purchase in app), unlimited shrimp at Red Lobster (ends May 28), free iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts (with other purchase in app – Monday only), free kids meals at Hooters (weekends only with adult meal purchase), or a free donut at Krispy Kreme (when you sign up for their rewards program).
Try a new release – lots of nationwide retailers are releasing new items in May and the long weekend is the perfect excuse to finally go try it. CiCis is (re)releasing their 64 slice pie, Starbucks is releasing a white chocolate macadamia cream cold brew, Krispy Kreme has added butter pecan donuts to their menu, Baskin Robbins is featuring Strawberry Dragonfruit as their May flavor, Chipotle just released the chicken al pastor, El Pollo Loco brought back their birria tacos, McDonalds released a strawberry shortcake McFlurry, Sonic unveiled a line of grillers, and Chik-fil-a just added the watermelon mint beverage.
Take a cooking class – cooking classes are not only a great way to spice up to your culinary skills, but it’s often a great way to meet new people. Discount apps like Groupon often feature lower cost ways of finding a class or learning more about what you can expect at one.