If the ticket price of the admission to museums makes you hesitate before pulling out your wallet, on Museum Day, September 27th, the price is right. It's free--not all museums, but many.

Several museums and cultural sites across the U.S. have been enticed by Smithsonian Magazine to not charge on the 27th to promote Museum Day.

You do need an admission card for free admission, but one pass will get you and a friend in the museum of your choice's door.

If you use the drop down menu on the Museum Day Web site, you can find out which museums are free in any state. I checked out New York state and found dozens. Reading the list is one way to find out the variety of museums there are.

One museum that fits the historical site category caught my attention in particular. Huguenot Street is in New Paltz and is where I dressed up like a Huguenot when I was in high school and gave tours on what was called Huguenot Day. The house in the picture is one of the houses that is part of the tour.

I found out about Museum Day from Tom Barlow, my friend at Wallet Pop. He swears that I told him about it last week. Where was I? I have no recollection. Here's the link to the Museum Day admission card.

A friend of mine told me this summer about how his small jar of apple butter was confiscated at the TSA security check. He was hoping to bring it from Minnesota back to Montana..

Another person recently told me that the snow globe she was bringing back as a souvenir from her vacation to California this summer was also confiscated by TSA. Unfortunately, she read the post about snow globes not being okay in a carry on after she lost her treasure.

Turns out, there is something else to think about when you pack. If you have holy water on you, even if it is blessed by the pope, better be safe and tuck it into your checked bag--particularly if you are traveling with the pope on his plane. Put it in your carry on and it might be confiscated.

Pope Benedict XVI, recognizing the hazards of holy water in a carry-on, is warning people that even the smallest amount could be a problem reports this Reuters article. Pope Benedict was specifically referring to people traveling with him to Lourdes, France from September 12-15.

People travel to Lourdes on a pilgrimage to see the spot where the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant girl in 1858. Picking up holy water as a souvenir is part of the occasion.

Like the pope, Air France has warned against bringing holy water onto the papal plane as well.

As for other airlines, other planes, and other occasions where you may be bringing holy water home with you, I'd pack it in a checked bag, or take your chances with a bottle if it's no more than 3-ounces.

But, remember the apple butter and the snow globe and those half empty bottles of bottled water dumped into the trash by TSA. There's no telling what might happen when you hoist that carry-on onto the conveyor belt that passes through an X-Ray machine.

China's blend of art traditions, mixing the modern with the traditional, and the secular with the religious, is quite evident in the production of "Zen Shaolin" that is being shown at an outdoor theater in Henan Province.

From what I read in the New York Times article about the production, for anyone heading to China, or who is in China now, I'd take this in if I had the chance. Earlier today, I posted a video of the production of Swan Lake by the Guangdong Acrobatics Troupe of China. Multiply that several times, and you might come close to what I imagine "Zen Shaolin" must be like.

"Zen Shaolin" has a cast of 500 people, for example, and was created by Tan Dun, the guy who composed the music to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."

How big is the backstage, I wonder? Along with the cast of hundreds, the backdrop is a valley in the mountains near Shaolin Temple. How cool is that?

The set is elaborate as to not be dwarfed by the surroundings, and from the description of the storyline, the production blends ancient Chinese tales, martial arts, Zen Buddhism and modern day sensibilities.

One of the reasons for the creation of this outdoor theater production is to bring tourists to the area. There have been 300,000 who have come so far. Just another version of the story "If you build it they will come." That is if you have a good idea and the timing is right.

In the case of "Zen Shaolin," I'd say it sounds like pay dirt. (For more photos, check out the NY Times slide show)

Until I moved to Columbus and close to The Ohio State University, I didn't fully understand football season. Now I do.

If you live in a town with one of the Big Ten Universities, you can't help but notice when football season starts, even if you are fuzzy on the details of how the game is played. On a Saturday when the Buckeyes are in town, I keep that in mind. Can you say traffic jam?

Still there are advantages of living in a Big Ten town. The team name offers an identity that's fun to join in, no matter your background. It ties people together. If you live in central Ohio, you're automatically part of the OSU gang. Put on an OSU T-shirt and people know where you're from. Even I own a Buckeye T-shirt.

Because this weekend marks the start of the fall football season, here's a mini guide to the Big Ten teams. If you happen to be traveling through one of these cities or towns this fall, these details may help put you in the football know.

(There are actually 11 Big Ten Universities. For an explanation of what makes a Big Ten, click here.)

Over at one of our sister blogs, Wallet Pop, Plano, Texas is being touted the most affluent city in the United States.

That Texas! Texas has two of the cities where people have a fighting chance of making the best living.

Plano may have turned into a suburb of Dallas over the years, but there are distinctive Plano-type things to do, even for folks with a more modest income. The city's official Web site does give reference to spouses which alludes to trips taken by people who head to Plano for business meetings and bring their spouses in tow.

Here are three places I'd go if ever I was in Plano.

1. The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary- Technically, this attraction is not in Plano, but in McKinney. It is, however, close enough that I'll included it, otherwise I would not have ended up with three things. Here is where you can learn about Texas's natural environment through walking trails and indoor exhibits. One permanent exhibit is on Texas's venomous snakes. Currently, there is a butterfly exhibit that will run through September.
2. The Heritage Farmstead Museum - An historic Blackland prairie farm that was turned into a museum to highlight life on the Texas prairie back in 1891.
3. Interurban Railroad Museum- This restored train station is where you can learn about the history of Plano and about the train that used to go between Dennison and Dallas. It's free, so, what's the harm in checking it out?

From the extensive attractions list you can surmise that Plano is close to Ft. Worth and Dallas. If you expand the distance you're willing to travel, you'll find loads of things to do. I'd go to the Ft. Worth Stockyards National Historic District.

I checked on the Frito-Lay Web site to see if there is a tasting show room or some such thing since Plano is the company's home. Nope. Didn't see one.

For more Plano facts, check out Wallet Pop's post.

There is a newly published Forbes.com article on the top 10 cities for making a living in the United States. Each has something to offer travelers as well. Here are the top cities and one place to go to in each. These are the first places that immediately came to mind. It's an odd assortment.

1. Houston, Texas. I've been to the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles and found it incredibly worthwhile and moving. From the description of the Holocaust Museum in Houston, it sounds similar, although there is a section that includes first person accounts of the Holocaust survivors who live in the city.

2. Minneapolis, Minnesota. As I've posted before, the outdoor art in Minneapolis is fantastic, particularly, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

3. Boston, Massachusetts. The Freedom Trail that winds through the old part of Boston highlights the important places during the American Revolution. Here's a tour that looks like a fun way to take it in. When I walked the Freedom Trail in Girl Scouts, we were on our own. I wish we had been on this tour.

The Supai village, a popular tourist spot for visitors to the Grand Canyon, was hit hard by recent flooding.

Now, the Indian tribe overseeing the village and surrounding network of trails says the area will not open again this year.

The Havasupai tribe had wanted to open the area back up next month, but said the flooding -- from nearby Havasu Falls -- was more extensive than initially thought.

The Supai area is famous for not only its village but for a network of trails and camp grounds that lead thousands of tourists every year to spectacular -- and hard to reach -- waterfalls.

Read this Associated Press story for more.

Erik Olsen, former Gadling blogger extraordinaire (he topped 4,000 posts) has a recent article in the New York Times about the U.S.S. Oriskany, a battleship that was turned into an artificial reef off the coast of Florida near Pensacola.

This "great carrier reef," Olsen reports, is one of the best places to dive in the United States and has put Pensacola in the money. Dive shops have done a booming business and the ship has generated a considerable sum for the county besides.

Along with divers, military buffs and those who served on the ship back when have come to see it.

John McCain, though, has yet to make an appearance. McCain's plane took off from the ship's deck almost 31 years ago on his last mission before he was shot down during the Vietnam conflict and found himself in the "Hanoi Hilton" aka, Hoa Lo Prison, most definitely not enjoying the city's charm like I have.

As Olsen points out, there are some environmental concerns regarding sinking ships, however the Environmental Protection Agency helped to ensure the ship was cleaned up enough to be turned into an ocean life haven. Studies are being done to see what adverse environmental footprints are being made, if any. The fear is that PCBs are being released.

Regardless of the possible downside, barnacles, sea urchins and 38 fish species now call the Mighty O--the ship's nickname, home. Also, it can't be denied that sunken ships make great diving spots for folks who know what they are doing. Two people did die while diving at the Oriskany. One person died after getting the bends from diving down too far and coming up too fast, and the other one had a heart attack. The guy with the heart attack would have died regardless of what he was doing--even knitting.

Diving at the ship sounds fascinating--and I have a fear of drowning. Reading Olsen's description gave me the inkling that learning to scuba dive needs to be bumped up on my things-to-learn list. Actually, I'm not sure scuba diving has been on my things-to-learn-list. I've penciled it in.

For a slide show of the ship, click here. Also, check out Olsen's article. The guy can write. He can also scuba dive. This video was taken during his dive of the Mighty O. Plus, he can take pictures. The photo, as you might notice, is by him. Jeez, what can't he do?

Canton, Youngstown and Dayton are on the list of the five fastest dying cities. Dying sounds terribly grim. How about shrinking? I can't imagine that no one will ever live in these places one day. They are all on highways for one thing. Still, as industries have become smaller and have all but disappeared in these cities, the economy is not holding people in large numbers or attracting more.

Each place does have decent offerings and worth a shout out. I've been to Canton and Dayton and driven through Youngstown. I went to Canton specifically for the Pro-Football Hall of Fame. A Japanese teacher who stayed with us a few years ago wanted to go there so we obliged. It's a lovely drive through Ohio's rural countryside. Our teacher friend was quite the football fan so this was a thrill for him. I enjoyed myself as well, and I am most certainly not into football. I don't dislike it. I'm just not a fan.

I went to Dayton twice. Once to take in Wright brothers and Katharine Wright historic sites for an article I was writing, and the other time to do a restaurant review of Jay's Seafood in the historic Oregon District. I found it to be a lovely small city and can't imagine that entrepreneurial types won't find solutions to the shrinkage problem. I have plans to head to Dorthy Lane Market in the near future.

Youngstown has been on the radar as a struggling city for awhile. The town has been doing some work to revitalize itself. Before BloggingOhio ended there were several Youngstown related posts, mostly by Chris Barzak, a writer, and now professor who lives in Youngstown that highlighted these efforts, as well as the interesting things to do there.

As people are looking for places to go closer to home for a quick get-a-way, maybe tourism could help--at least a tad.

One wonderful detail about summer travel is that it can spill over into autumn and beyond--particularly if it comes in amusement park entertainment.

In the spirit of the summer is not over yet, and when it is, don't stop the fun, Gadling has paired up with Busch Gardens Williamsburg for some give-away action. Williamsburg, Virginia, known for its colonial past, is steeped in American history.

Pairing a visit to Colonial Williamsburg with a visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (and Water Country USA) adds amusement park excitement and a step into Europe to an American history lesson.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg, with its European inspired theme, boasts rides such as: Escape from Pompeii--a water ride, Griffon, a roller coaster that has a 90 degrees, straight down drop, and The Curse of DarKastle, a haunted house. Rides are set in settings reminiscent of European countries. The photo is from Da Vinci's Garden of Inventors.

Along with rides, there are animal attractions like Eagle's Ridge, a sanctuary for injured eagles, and Jack Hanna's Wild Reserve, a section where exotic and endangered animal exhibits highlight the importance of habitat preservation.

For people who aren't particularly fond of rides--and those who are, there are shows to enjoy. Emerald Beat, an Irish step-dancing performance, is one of them.

Because Busch Gardens' season extends past Halloween, certain events reflect the time of year as well. On two September weekends, Bud & BBQ "celebrates great food, great beer and great music."

For Halloween, there's Howl-O-Scream. It begins in September and runs through the last weekend in October.

So, dear Gadling readers, what can you win? There are four different prizes.

• Prize 1 - Season Pass Voucher to Busch Gardens which also gets you into Water Country USA, the water park that is part of the Busch Gardens family-- a $154.95 value and a Busch Garden's T-shirt (T-shirt value, $10)
• Prize 2- Season Pass and a Busch Gardens visor (visor value, $5)
• Prize 3- Exxon Mobile Gas Card for $25 and a Busch Gardens T-shirt
• Prize 4--Exxon Mobile Gas Card for $25 and a Busch Gardens visor

To enter, leave a comment below telling us why you need a longer summer vacation and what you'd do with the time.

• The comment must be left before Friday, August 15, 2008 at 1 PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.

See the complete rules here.

Good luck!!