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I'm a veteran's wife so every year for the last 12 years, I go on a list hunt ahead of time to find free things for my special veteran on Veteran's Day. This year, Veteran's Day is Mon., November 11, 2024. Keep scrolling to see the list.

Major chains are usually very consistent with offering free meals for veterans and active military on Veteran's Day. Keep scrolling to see the list that I've compiled for San Luis Obispo County and nearby. 

Please be ready to show proof of military service or veteran's status when requested by any of these companies for your freebies. *If there is a (To be confirmed) note next to the freebie listed below, it just means that I haven't seen the company's actual website publish their freebie announcement for 2024 but it is usually an ongoing annual offer that they do and sometimes their corporate or marketing team might be last minute about posting them. 

1. Free haircut at all Great Clips places for veterans on Veteran's Day. They do this every year and my husband has been able to taken advantage of it most of the time. If the veteran comes in that day and can't wait too long to get a haircut that very day, they will hand the veteran a free haircut card to use. The one located in Arroyo Grande closed down so you'll have to go to the Great Clips in Atascadero or drive to the next county over for the Santa Maria location.
2. Participating Sports Clips is offering a free haircut to veterans on Veteran's Day.
3. All State Parks in California, including Oceano Dunes SVRA will offer free admission on Veteran's Day to veterans who were not dishonorably discharged. Proof is required.
4. Sunset North Car Wash in Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo had reached out to me a couple of years ago telling me that they were offering Veterans and Active Duty Military personnel a free car wash (offer was good at all locations, rain or shine and it is for Original Hand Wash only) on Veteran's Day. For 2024, they're offering it this year again!
5. Discounted tickets to a veteran and up to 5 guests at Knott's Berry Farm for particular days. Now that we are here on the Central Coast, we can drive a few hours south to Knott's Berry Farm in Orange County. Spouses and children are not eligible to purchase these discount tickets without the military member present. The dates to get the military rate for tickets is between Nov 4 - 21, 2024 for Monday - Thursday visits only. They are $25 each.
6. Free red, white & blueberry pancakes to veterans and active duty at IHOP on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2024 at all participating IHOPs around the nation between 7AM - 7PM. Dine in only.
7. Free first 6oz of yogurt at Menchie's Frozen Yogurt for veterans on Veteran's Day. There is a Menchie's location in Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County.
8. Free HOT-N-READY lunch combo at Little Caesar's between 11AM - 2PM to veterans on Veteran's Day. Must mention offer and proof of service when ordered at the check out counter. They usually don't announce it until a couple days before online. (To be confirmed)
9. Free 10 boneless wings and fries for veteran's on Veteran's Day at Buffalo Wild Wings. They usually don't post it on their website ahead of time but will publish a PR announcement or post on facebook a couple of days before or on the day of Veteran's Day. (To be confirmed)
10. Free In-N-Out complimentary meal for veterans on Veteran's Day. They usually don't announce this until the very day. (To be confirmed)
11. Free meal to veterans and active military on Veteran's Day at Applebee's. They usually require you to show proof. Sometimes it's from a special list so do tell them upon order that you are a veteran or active military and they will let you know what's the freebie offer. The closest Applebee's is in Santa Maria, in the next county over.
12. Free meal at Golden Corral from 5PM - closing for veterans. The closest Golden Corral to SLO is in Santa Maria, California (in the next county over). Golden Corral locations usually have their free meal offers on the Monday closest to Veteran's Day so it is not always on the actual Veteran's Day. Since Veteran's Day happen to be on a Monday for 2024, they are going to offer the free "thank you" meal for veterans on the actual Veteran's Day on November 11, 2024.
13. Free meal to veterans at Olive Garden from a selected menu on Veteran's Day. Let them know that you have a veteran with you and they will present a special menu that the veteran can pick from. 
14. All veterans and active duty get a free meal from Chili's from a selected menu on Veteran's Day. There's a list of 4 to choose from: https://www.chilis.com/restaurant-events/veterans-day.
15. All veterans and active duty get a free Build Your Own Grand Slam at Denny's on Veteran's Day. Offer is only valid from 5AM - noon for dine in.
16. All veterans get a free tall coffee at Starbucks on Veteran's Day. They always offer this freebie every year for Veteran's Day, but don't announce it until a couple of days before.
17. Krispy Kreme is offering a free doughnut and free small coffee to veterans on Veteran's Day. The closest Krispy Kreme to us is in Santa Maria, in the next county over.
18. Gilroy Gardens (about 3 hours drive away from SLO going North) is giving free admission to any active duty and military veteran for Veteran's Day weekend on November 9, 10 and 11 for 2024. Discounted tickets for the veteran's family can also be purchased for up to 6 guests. You can only get these free and discounted tickets at the gate and not online.
19. Aquarium of the Pacific (about 3 hours drive away from SLO going South) is offering limited free tickets to veterans and active-duty military on Veteran's Day from 9AM - 6PM. You cannot get these tickets at the gate as it requires Advance Reservation on the Aquarium of the Pacific's website.
20. Knott's Berry Farm (about 3.5 hours drive away from SLO going South) is offering Military Tribute Days between Nov 4 - 21, 2024 where veterans can buy tickets for themselves and up to 5 guests for $25 each, so they are not offering a free ticket, but the discounts are great. You can get the tickets at the Knott's Berry ticket booth or online on their special link.

My five year old has just competed in his very first pumpkin contest. Since he is only five, there is no carving involved and we did it as a family. It was a fun activity that all of us enjoyed. My son got to pick what color eyes our pumpkin should have and other features too. He was very adamant that our lion pumpkin should not have ears! Here's the final product.
 (Lion pumpkin DIY no carve)

I think it turned out pretty cute. We used yarn for the lion mane, felt for the tongue, fuzzy balls for the eyes, nose and legs, pipe cleaner for the mouth area and black permanent marker for the whisker dots. 

We hope you're having a festive fall so far. To see free family-friendly activities in the San Luis Obispo area, go to: http://www.sanluisobispomom.com/family-friendly-events.php.

Today, we visited farms animals at Windmill Farms in Arroyo Grande (AG), California. (Arroyo Grande is part of San Luis Obispo County). We have farms all over this beautiful county which gives the kids many opportunities to visit farm animals.

Upon arriving Windmill Farms, I was instantly impressed by how well kept the farm is.

The place is so beautiful, I did not take a single bad picture! We were allowed to feed lettuce to the farm animals. Just ask the workers there at Windmill Farms if you could purchase some lettuce. We saw tortoises, goats, pigs, turkeys and ponies.



It was really amusing to hear the turkeys gobble, gobble every time we would pass by! It was so perfect to be around all of this during the fall season.

They also had a picnic area which got me thinking that this could be a very nice place to host an intimate wedding reception! Address of Windmill Farms is 1275 N Thompson Ave, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420.

Read about our visit to another farm called Avila Valley Barn in Avila Beach (also part of San Luis Obispo county).

Over the weekend, we attended a wine release party at Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles, California. (Paso Robles is part of San Luis Obispo county.) The food and wine pairings were fantastic. It was free for wine club members and that is so wonderful because sometimes other wineries still charge a fee for these release parties.

We have been wine club members for two wineries thus far, Vina Robles Vineyards and Tolosa Winery (Edna Valley). This one at Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery is our very first wine release party ever! 

The wine release party was from 11AM - 2PM. By the time we have arrived in Paso Robles, it was about 11:10AM and there was a line to enter already. About 30 - 40 people were in front of us. It was over 100 degrees that day so it was going to be a very hot day! The staff members there were very polite and professional. Now looking back, next time we will arrive at 1PM because we'll still have an hour to go through all 6 tasting stations and the line by that time to enter was non-existent!

Although there were 6 different wine & food pairing tastings, as a bonus, you can try their blind tastings and those were another 3 red wine tastes.

It was such a wonderful event with chef worthy dishes, fantastic Vina Robles wine and a wonderful ambiance outdoors during a summer day. I really can't wait for the next wine release party here!

If you're looking to go to a concert, Vina Robles also has an amphitheatre where many famous bands perform here!

We watched Counting Crows when they came here! As another perk as a Vina Robles Vineyards club member, they let you join their pre-concert party! Entry to this pre-show party is only exclusive to wine club members. All of the concerts have pre-show parties if they are performing here at the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre only opened a couple of years ago so the place is beautiful and new. My husband and I shared the braised beef entree at the pre-show party for Counting Crows.

If you're not a wine club member, the main areas of the venue also have many different stations of food to buy! This is for every Vina Robles Amphitheater goer and there were a pizza station, another area to buy sandwiches and burgers, desserts and of course wine! You can also get beer here! Address of Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery and Amphitheatre: 3800 Mill Rd, Paso Robles, CA 93446

Reading Suggestions:

• Read about other wineries that I've visited in Edna Valley and Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County.


• See my top 10 favorite local wineries in Edna Valley and Paso Robles, as a local.


• See this IG reel of different wine tasting rooms that I've personally visited.