Hot Weekend Picks

It’s Thursday, and you’ve got no idea what you’ll do for the weekend. Patch has come to the rescue. We’ve got the best bets for your done-work-outta-here time. Check our picks for the activities to hit and new bars/restaurants/shops to explore.

Where/When: Get half-price admission at 40 museums throughout the county from Feb. 1-28.

Why Go: You can experience everything from art, music and history to the environment, the military and zoology at the participating museums.

Pricing: Free vouchers can be picked up at any Macy's store in the county. Tickets at the museums vary, but each voucher is good for up to four half-price admissions.

Where/When: Local author Caitlin Rother will sign her new book "Dead Reckoning" at the Oceanside Barnes and Noble, 2 p.m., Feb. 5.

Why Go: Rother will chill you to the bone with tales of a former child actor who murdered a retired couple, and when cornered, wanted to kill again.

Pricing: Free

Where/When: Yale University art professor and dean Robert Storr speaks at two different events, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, at 7 p.m. Feb. 3, and at UCSD in the International House Great Hall from 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 4.

Why Go: Storr will speak as part of a year-long series exploring the campus and its role in design and art.

Pricing: Free

Where/When: Belly Up Tavern,  8 p.m. Feb. 4 and 5.

Why Go: The venerable '80s ska band, still going after all these years, puts in an appearance in Solana Beach. Their hits included "Mirror in the Bathroom" and "Save It For Later"

Pricing: $20

Where/When: UCSD's Potiker Theatre hosts the closing weekend of the haunting "Threepenny Opera."

Why Go: The classic musical, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, tells a tale of betrayal and corruption, plus it sports music that no less a master than Bob Dylan said grabbed him immediately.

Pricing:  $20 general admissions, with discounts for students, seniors and alumni.