Here is a roundup of Veterans Day freebies in the Philly area. These freebies are starting in some places on November 7th and running for an entire week; other Veterans Day freebies are for one day only.

To make it easier for you to take advantage of as many of these freebies as possible, I’ve listed them by date. Here you go!

November 7th-10th

• Outback Steakhouse is thanking members of the military for their service by giving them a free blooming onion appetizer and a Coca-Cola beverage of their choice. (As with most Veterans Day freebies, you will need to present proper identification.)

November 10th

• Inns and B&Bs throughout the U.S. and Canada will honor active military and veterans by offering complimentary stays on November 10, 2011, in observance of Veterans Day. To date nearly 500 inns and B&Bs have signed up to participate in the B&Bs for Vets program in the U.S. with an additional 215 offers from Canadian innkeepers, and more are being added each day. In our area, you’ll find participating inns in Pennsylvania in New Hope, Lancaster, and Holicong, among others; and in New Jersey, participating inns are in Cape May, Ocean Grove, and North Wildwood.

November 11th (that’s 11/11/11!)

• Get a free car wash through the Grace for Vets program. There are about 50 participating car wash locations in the Philadelphia area, which you can locate here.
• Every inactive and active U.S. military veteran who stops by an area Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake Shop will receive a free Star Spangled Vanilla Dip donut adorned with star-shaped sprinkles. No purchase is necessary, veterans need to either be in uniform or show their military ID. (From what I can tell, the only Tim Hortons’ location in our area is in the Wells Fargo Center.)
• I’d heard that Krispy Kreme was going to offer active duty military a free doughnut on Veterans Day. However, I have not been able to confirm this with an active web link. I’m hoping that the Krispy Kreme Philly sites will participating, since they’ve been so good before with offering free doughnuts on special occasions.
• Participating Applebee’s locations are giving a free Applebee’s Signature Entree to veterans and active military members with proper ID. Some of those signature entrees include bacon-cheddar cheeseburger and Oriental chicken salad. (FYI, you can find a list of those entrees, plus how Applebee’s defines “proper ID” on the Applebee’s website. Unfortunately, the website does not include a list of “participating” locations so I guess you’ll have to call the Applebee’s nearest to you and find out that way.)
• Hooters has a Veterans Day deal: free wings for vets. Note: you must purchase a drink to get this deal–and you must show ID. Click through to the Hooters site to find participating locations. From what I can tell, the participating locations in our area are the following:
  • Atlantic City, NJ
  • Bensalem, PA
  • King of Prussia, PA
  • Lawrenceville, NJ
  • Maple Shade, NJ
  • Wyomissing, PA
• Texas Roadhouse has created a special Veterans Day Lunch Menu, which includes free entrees for veterans and active military folks. You can partake of this freebie from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 11. You’ll get a free soft drink or iced tea with your free meal. While there are only two New Jersey locations in the Philly area, there are a bunch of Texas Roadhouse restaurants in Pennsylvania. Use the location tool on the website to find a restaurant near you.

November 11th-13th

• Get free admission to our National Parks. This free admission is not only in honor of Veterans Day but also it is a freebie that the military and non-military alike can enjoy. Unfortunately, the participating National Parks Service locations are a bit of schlep from Philly, unless you happen to be going to North Jersey or up to the Scranton area that weekend.

November 13th

• McCormick & Schmicks is treating veterans to a complimentary lunch or dinner entree. This link (hopefully*) will let you see which locations are participating in this Veterans Day promotion, which McCormick and Schmick’s has offered for more than a decade. (*I say hopefully, because I was unable to download the document listing the participating locations. Maybe it’s just a Mac/Google browser thing…)

November 14th

• Golden Corral restaurants are offering a free meal to past and present members of the military, as a thank you for their service to our country. This freebie is available from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. only. There are a few Golden Corral locations in the Philadelphia area:
  • Audubon, NJ
  • Bensalem, PA
  • Delran, NJ
  • Egg Harbor Township, NJ
  • West Berlin, NJ

For an extensive list of military freebies–for Veterans Day and other times of the year–I would recommend checking out the website The Military Wallet.

Photo Credit: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net