Most cultures identify themselves through language, traditions, and their reflection in a skinny mirror. Witness centuries' worth of self-awareness with today's Groupon for a one-year membership to The Rooms on Bonaventure Avenue. Choose between two options:

• For $15, you get a one-year individual membership (a $40 value).
• For $25, you get a one-year family membership, good for two adults and two children under 17 (a $70 value).

The Rooms' collections, exhibits, and outreach programs recount the history of Newfoundland and Labrador through multiple collections of art, artifacts, archaeology, architecture, and archives. Mirroring the architecture of traditional fishing rooms where local families once gathered to process their daily catch and thoughts about space-time, The Rooms' facilities—complete with panoramic views, multimedia theatre, and an atrium—play host to an array of permanent and visiting displays. Permanent museum exhibits surround visitors with the history of Newfoundland's original peoples and ecosystem. A current temporary exhibit sifts through the myths and facts of Fantastic Sea Monsters, exploring centuries of fascination with the watery unknown. Historic accounts, scientific studies, modern conservation efforts, and dramatic reenactments examine the stories behind Canada's local legends, maritime mammalia, and unexplained gargoyle population.

Members reap the benefits of free annual admission and weekly event news as well as 10 per cent off special-event admission, youth programs, gift-shop purchases, and seeds for baby museums. Members can also access records huddled in pith-preserving archives which—in privately given, still-image, film, manuscript, map, and sports-record incarnations—assemble a functional family of chronicles. All areas of The Rooms are handicap accessible, with wheelchairs or strollers available upon request.