Museums & Galleries in Martinez

Dust off your explorer's exploring khakis and your museum monocle for today's deal: a one-year Friend of Horus membership to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum for $15 (a $35 value). Membership includes free individual admission, 10% off museum store items, and priority entrance to new featured exhibits. The only hieroglyphic capable of expressing your delight will be an owl hugging a jackal's head on top of a human eyeball. Follow @Groupon_Says on Twitter.

Your ticket includes a mind-expanding movie about the cosmos, some live music you can dance to, and access to the observatory and all of Chabot's exhibits. Current exhibits delve into the scientific achievements and cosmology of the Maya, give you a most likely dehydrated taste of the life of an astronaut, and take you on a journey to the farthest reaches of the cosmos, among other things. And—weather permitting—you'll get to spy on other planets from either Nellie, the 36" reflector telescope that allows access to 180 degrees of night sky, or Rachel, the largest refractor in the western U.S. You'll have four hours to amble through the science center with a celestial concoction in one hand (drinks are $3–$5 at the cash bar) and your date in the other. After staring into the depths of distant galaxies, you can stare into the depths of each other's eyes over dinner at the Starlight Bistro or Celestial Café (not included in Groupon; reservations required).

Spread out among 132,000 square feet and three levels are a variety of permanent and temporary exhibits that represent the museum’s goal of innovative inspiration. The recently opened, hands-on, and interactive exhibit Invention at Play examines the evolution of playtime from the hoop-and-stick of yesteryear to the portable holographic virtual wristwatches of today. The art, film, and music-focused Tech Virtual Test Zone conceptualizes ideas from the virtual world of Second Life with interactive wonders such as the Wall of Musical Buttons. The Wall allows visitors to experiment with note intervals in familiar musical melodies, and Mashup Masterpiece gives visitors the ability to add their own creative modifications after observing an artist's artistic process. Aspiring weatherpersons can learn about the powers of wind, water, and sun in Green by Design, or budding Beakmans can perform various science experiments in the Exploration Gallery. Keep the stimulation going while giving tired legs a rest with the included educational IMAX movie. Check out current offerings such as Arabia or Under the Sea or peruse the schedule for other upcoming shows at The Hackworth IMAX Dome Theater.

Make up for the ill-fated model-train competitions of your childhood by celebrating National Train Day in style. You'll board the locomotive in full Victorian regalia at the Sacramento Southern Railroad ticket office in Old Sacramento and embark on an epic 40-minute journey through the central California wilderness. Amid the train's historic 1920s-era El Dorado luxury car, your 6-mile round-trip ride will transport you along the edge of the Sacramento River in the style of politicians and highfalutin VIPs of bygone days. The air-conditioned cabin boasts plush ruby sofas and expansive windows for taking in the panoramic views while enjoying complimentary lemonade and cookies.

Planted between mighty palms in Golden Gate Park is the oldest wood-and-glass conservatory in North America. The gleaming white Victorian structure has survived several boiler explosions, closure during World War II, and more than two decades of renovations. In 1998, it was deemed an endangered building—but it was quickly adopted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and completely rehabilitated by 2003. This century-old structure is home to the Conservatory of Flowers, a National Historic Landmark that connects visitors year-round with the exotic flora of the world's tropical regions.

The Conservatory houses four main galleries. In the aquatic plants gallery, cascading water gurgles into pools beneath a glass-and-metal sculpture of a six-foot Victoria amazonica water lily. The mist-filled highland gallery mimics the high-altitude forests of tropical mountaintops with clusters of orchids and ferns. Showcasing another side of the tropics, the rainy lowland gallery replicates lush jungles, housing a 100-year-old imperial philodendron and several cycads, which date to the days when most dinosaurs were just tiny salamanders. The potted plants gallery incorporates man-made works such as copper planters from India, ceramic pots from Burkina Faso, and an urn from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Around the fragrant stillness of these halls, the Conservatory hosts special events such as gardening workshops.

Groupon Celebrates Pride Month

Over the last 50 years, the gay-rights movement in America has overcome tremendous obstacles to become a powerful voice for inclusion and diversity. Even as it has grown, the movement—like Groupon—is local at heart, and we applaud the commitment to real change that improves everyday lives.

At Groupon, we are happy to add our voices to those celebrating PRIDE, their achievements as a social movement and a continued march to equality for the LGBT community. Plus, we love a chance to dig that rainbow wig out of storage.

This month—and throughout the year—we salute our merchants and customers who support PRIDE and all efforts that promote dignity, respect, and equal opportunity. We're highlighting these merchants' deals with a special badge to show Groupon's pride in working with people who share our values.

Nestled in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Area Discovery Museum entices children's inquiring minds with a host of exhibits modeled after the surrounding sea and city. The Wave Workshop lets kids explore the San Francisco Bay's ecology and test their own boat designs against simulated wind and waves. In the 2.5-acre Lookout Cove which overlooks the bay itself, a 23-foot-tall Golden Gate Bridge entices children to put on hardhats and help construct a giant model.