Don't know what to do Saturday? It's Museum Day!

Want to visit or do research in the Orange County Archives or to check out the Old Courthouse Museum, but don't have time during the week? Well, Museum Day, this Saturday, Sept. 29, from 10am to 4pm, is a rare chance to do both on a weekend.  

Special tours of both the museum and the Archives (both located inside the Old Orange County Courthouse, 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana) will be available. Admission is free, but you might want to bring quarters for the parking meters.

The beautifully restored Howe-Waffle House Museum.

A number of other historic sites around Orange County will also participate in Museum Day, throwing their doors open, free to the public, including the Victorian Howe-Waffle House (just across the street from the Old Courthouse), the Heritage Museum of Orange County, and Mission San Juan Capistrano. Some sites will require a ticket to enter, which is available free on the Museum Day website at www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/.

The Howe-Waffle House will also offer historical walking tours of Downtown Santa Ana, a viewing of rare film footage of Babe Ruth in Orange County (at about 1pm), and a book signing by Baseball In Orange County author Chris Epting. (Call 714-547-9645 to reserve a spot for the walking tour.)

Find the history of your house, family, or community at the O.C. Archives.

 I, of course, will be giving "backstage tours" and answering questions at the Orange County Archives. So if you decide to go "heritage hopping" on Saturday, I hope you'll stop by and say hello.