We're always on the lookout for fabulous freebies, so this stellar outing in Washington, DC is right up our alley. Admission is always free at the National Geographic Museum, which recently opened an exhibit that's been generating big buzz with whale-loving families. On loan from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the "Whales | Tohora" (Tohora is Maori for "whale") exhibit features a nearly 60-foot skeleton of a sperm whale and a model of a blue whale's heart that—how's this for interactive?—visitors can crawl through. There are also labs where you can build a dolphin model and learn more about how whales feed, move, see and communicate.

You can catch it at NGM through January 18, 2009. Afterward, the exhibit will head to the Midwest, where families can see it at the wonderful Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas, from February 8 to September 6, 2009.