Memorial Day freebies and deals

This post comes from Leah Ingram at partner site Living on the Cheap.

Memorial Day 2012 is going to kick off with parades, celebrations and freebies. And, like many other holiday weekends, this Memorial Day will find restaurants and businesses rolling out the freebie carpet to get you through their doors. Since free is my favorite price, that's fine with me.

Because it's Memorial Day, a day meant to honor the military, I've broken the list into two groups -- Memorial Day 2012 freebies exclusively for military and free activities, food and events for us -- frugal civilians -- to enjoy over this Memorial Day weekend.

Freebies for the military

• Military personnel can enjoy free museum admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day via the Blue Star Museums program. This program includes 1,600 participating museums across the United States, including biggies, such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (the museum in the movie "A Night at the Museum"), the deYoung Museum in San Francisco, The Museum of Flight in Seattle and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.
• On Monday, May 28, Hooters restaurants will honor all veterans and active-duty military personnel with 10 free wings. All day on Memorial Day, personnel with proof of service or a Military ID will receive 10 free wings at Hooters, boneless or traditional. The choice is yours. For this freebie to kick in, you simply need to order a drink.
• Throughout 2012, members of the military and up to three direct dependents may receive a free single-day admission to Sea World, Busch Gardens or Sesame Place. It's all part of Anheuser-Busch's Here's to the Heroes program.
• Military members can get a free $10 gift card at Tanger Outlets. Just print this coupon from Facebook, and bring it with you -- along with your valid military ID -- when you visit a Tanger Outlets location through May 28.
• Active-duty military personnel and their dependents can get a free America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Annual Pass in 2012 granting them access to more than 2,000 national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands. (Post continues below.)

Freebies for the public

• Kids Bowl Free, a nationwide program that allows you -- well, your children -- to get daily free passes to bowling alleys near you, gets rolling on Memorial Day weekend. Visit the Kids Bowl Free website to find participating lanes in your area.
• Enjoy a free cheeseburger slider at Max & Erma's when you visit on Monday. Order a beverage and you'll get one free slider in return. Here is a list of participating Max & Erma locations.
• Eat free at IKEA from May 26 to 28. Here's how this freebie works: When you make a $100 or more home furnishings purchase and have a meal in the IKEA restaurant that same day, you can deduct the cost of your meal, meaning you'll have eaten for free.
• Buy one, get one free cup of coffee at Caribou Coffee on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28. You must bring this coupon, available on the Caribou Coffee Facebook page, with you to get this BOGO deal.
• Play at Bass Pro Shops. Take the kiddos to this outdoor retail giant's free Summer Kickoff Event, Saturday and Sunday. The first 100 kids to complete the Summer Kickoff Challenge (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) each day at each store get a free Bug Glider. The Challenge includes a sleeping bag race, metal detector treasure hunt and tent set-up competition. Free arts and crafts events are also on tap both days from noon to 4 p.m.

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