Thursday Travel Ticker: 11/11/11 deals

Some travel-related discounts and activities in honor of Veterans Day on Friday: Mountain High, Bear Mountain and Snow Summit all offer free lift tickets to military members, active and retired. Skiers are advised to dress warmly as another winter storm is approaching. . . . Of the theme parks, Knott’s offers the best deal: two free passes for military personnel, in a promotion that runs till Thanksgiving. Disney offers discounts to military personnel all year long. Universal Studios also offers similar year-round discounts. The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach offers free admission to active and retired military members, as well as police and firefighters. . . . Presidential libraries are another patriotic option. The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda will have free admission to everyone, military and the general public, in honor of the holiday. . . . The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, meanwhile, will be hosting its annual Veterans Day event beginning at 10:30 a.m. The day’s activities include a flyover and live music. Admission is free to all military personnel with valid ID. Regular prices apply for the general public. For more information, call (805) 522-2977. . . . The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana presents “Veteran’s Day Tribute in Word & Song,” 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. The tribute includes newspaper dispatches, eyewitness accounts, memoirs and vivid recollections from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Free admission for retired and active military personnel with ID; museum members, $7; nonmembers, $10. For information, call (714) 567-3677. . . . The Autry National Center in Griffith Park is always free for active military members and veterans. Note that many Los Angeles museums are free to the public every day (though parking charges may apply). Among the venues that offer free admission: the California Science Center near USC, J. Paul Getty museums, the Griffith Observatory. . . . National park admission is free for the day. . . . Restaurants that are offering special deals Friday include Applebee’s (free meals) and McCormick & Schmick’s (free entree). . . . Travel quote of the day: “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.” (Calvin Coolidge)