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I'm a veteran's wife so every year for the last 13 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 Tues., November 11, 2025. 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 2025 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. A Free Original Wash (car wash) from Sunset North Car Wash & Detail Center is being offered to veterans and active-duty service members on Veteran's Day. They have three locations: San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande and Paso Robles.
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 3 - 20, 2025 for Monday - Thursday visits only. They are $25 each and can be purchased on this link with veteran verification.
6. Free red, white & blueberry pancakes to veterans and active duty at IHOP on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2025 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. Free boneless wings and fries are valid at participating locations on 11/11/25 for all past and present armed services members. Must show valid proof of service. Dine in only.
10. Free In-N-Out complimentary meal for veterans on Veteran's Day. This Veterans Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, In-N-Out Burger will show its appreciation for all veterans, active-duty military, reserves and National Guard by offering a complimentary meal, including any burger, fries, and beverage on In-N-Out Burger’s menu. U.S. veterans and active duty-military are respectfully asked to present proof of military service to receive the complimentary made-to-order meal of choice offered at all In-N-Out Burger locations open from 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
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. However, for 2025, they are actually having it on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 for dinner time.
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)Military, veterans, ER professionals and first responders enter FREE November 8-9 & 11! Plus, bring up to six (6) family members or friends for just $15 (up to $65 off General Admission). Must show valid ID or proof of service. These tickets are available at Front Gate only. Details on Gilroy Gardens website.
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.

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).

Note: This is a review of Vina Robles Vineyards when it used to be located next to the amphitheater. They have since moved from that location.

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 Amphitheatre: 3800 Mill Rd, Paso Robles, CA 93446

Address of new Vina Robles Winery Tasting Room Location: 1650 Ramada Drive, Ste. 140 Paso Robles, CA, 93446

Pictures of Original Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery Location

Vina Robles Vineyards & Winery was one of the first tasting rooms that we visited in Paso Robles. The place felt so luxurious and open in the tasting room. There was also patio seating as well in their courtyard space. We've visited their bistro for lunch a few times and although the menu is small, the food was always amazing.

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.

Note: The long running Parent Participation Program in San Luis Obispo County in Oceano (South County area) has been permanently discontinued. However, the one located in San Luis Obispo City (North County part) is still running. Scroll down to continue to read about my personal Parent Participation experience.

Parent Participation in Five Cities

After moving to San Luis Obispo county, we were recommended by a local to try Parent Participation. Two of the main ones are city-site run programs for parents with kids between the ages of 0 - 5 years old.

I enrolled my little one for the Oceano location. The Parent Participation programs in Oceano was categorized by South County (Lucia Mar) and offered four different class groups: 0 - 12 months old, 12 - 24 months old, 24 - 36 months old and 3 and 4 year olds. Each age group met once a week for 3 hours. During the 3 hour session, the day would look like this: free play time, clean up, circle time on the rug with songs, snacks (volunteered and snacks donated by parents), auditorium play while parents have an educational discussion about parenting, clean up and then ending with a nice story at circle time. Parents definitely participated in this class as they helped assist the kids with clean up and participating throughout the organized day. These classes are a great way to get kids used to social play with kids within their age group and for parents to talk to other parents who have kids around the same age. I paid $90 for the 6 week period (7 sessions). If your child is not ready for preschool, Parent Participation is really a great transition to preschool since the parent gets to be there with them the whole time.

We attended two different sessions and my child really liked the program and referred to it as 'school'. He would be excited to come play, sing songs, learn letters and be a part of a classroom setting. When we came during our first day, both my little one and I were overwhelmed because we had just moved here. We're the new kids on the block while most of the parents and kids had been a part of it together before. It was a bit intimidating. After the second week, we got more used to it. These classes were mainly for the little ones to thrive so it's all with positive intent. Be brave, I'd tell myself! We're glad we braved it and continued on to the next session before the pandemic inevitably, cut our session short. We had a field trip every session through our Parent Participation program and it was so fun! We went to a local farm to pick a pumpkin and see farm animals for one of the field trips during the fall.

2025 Update for Parent Participation for Five Cities Area (Lucia Mar):

As mentioned at the beginning of the post, the Lucia Mar Parent Participation Classes that my preschooler had participated in Oceano with me canceled during the pandemic but what have uprooted in popularity is a free program planned by the South County Youth Coalition. They offer classes in English and Spanish and parents are required to participate with their little ones. It's like a free parent participation program that's funded by grants and is for kids from 0 months through 5 years old (age groups are broken into pods). See available parent participation type classes on their South County Youth Coalition Eventbrite page. You will need to register online for your child's spot as there are limited spaces.

Parent Participation in North San Luis Obispo County Area

There's a popular Parent Participation program with sessions that are 2 hours long located at San Luis Coastal Adult School (city run) in San Luis Obispo, California that's appropriate for families living closer to the San Luis Obispo City area. Another one that is not run by the city is Playtime Discoveries in Atascadero, California. Although my kids did not attend these two programs, I always hear good things about them.

San Luis Obispo County has so many kid-friendly things to do and parent & me (mommy & me) type programs for the little ones. You can find all of these classes under the Mom Groups & Childcare section. For free events to do with your family or kids, you can go to the SLO County Events & Things To Do page.

Find Suggested Things To Do for Teens in SLO County.