Well, you live in Houston and while you’ve prepared yourself for a sizzling summer, it’s now close to the midway point and you might be reaching your limit for hot, humid days.

If that’s the case, check out these ways to beat the heat.

Places to go While many Houston museums, like the Rothko Chapel and the Houston Center for Photography, are free year round, others offer free days during the week. Check out the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum which is free on Thursday from 1-5 p.m., the Houston Museum of African American Culture which has its free hours on Thursdays from 6-8 p.m., or the Czech Center Museum Houston which is free the last Monday of the month from noon-4 p.m.

Additional museums include the Children’s Museum of Houston, free on Thursdays from 5-8 p.m.; the Health Museum, free on Thursdays from 2-7 p.m.; the Houston Museum of Natural Science, free on Thursdays from 6-9 p.m. (except on June 21st); the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, free on Thursdays from 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; and the Holocaust Museum Houston which is free on Sunday.

For a complete listing, visit houmuse.org/free-admission-times/.

If you have kids, like free bowling, and don’t mind a bit of a drive, see kidsbowlfree.com/ for participating locations. The closest participating one to the Leader area is the Emerald Bowl at 9307 Boone Road, which is a 20 minute drive. But there’s free bowling daily from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. through September 3. Participants must be age 18 or younger. If you are willing to pay a little for the experience, Del Mar Lanes at 3020 Mangum Road has done an extensive renovation and is ready to see you.

For other fun ideas, check out houstononthecheap.com/ or mommypoppins.com/.

Lastly, Reliant is sponsoring 11 Beat the Heat Centers throughout Houston, where people can keep cool and minimize home electricity usage while enjoying free water, snacks and entertainment. The two closest to The Leader area are the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center at 6719 W. Montgomery and the West End Multi-Service Center at 170 Heights Blvd.

Tips and recipes

Reliant’s Pat Hammond also shared some of their tips to help people manage their energy usage when temps continue to climb. One of these is to follow the 4×4 principle – During the summer months, setting your thermostat four degrees higher when you’re away from home for more than four hours can help reduce electricity usage and costs. When your thermostat is set below 78°F, each degree cooler may increase your costs by up to five percent.

For additional tips, see reliant.com.

To make your nights cooler, consider folding sheets and pillowcases, putting them in plastic bags, and placing them in the freezer until just before bed – that’s from mothernaturenetwork.com. For a less labor intensive nighttime cool, Real Simple suggests freezing a cotton sock filled with rice, then putting it between your sheets.

As for summer time beverages, reader Jennifer Scogin is a fan of Advocare products.

“Rehydrate is an electrolyte drink, a great substitute for Gatorade,” Scogin said. “The Pineapple Coconut flavor is tasty with Rum – so I’ve heard.”

The internet is full of recipes for summertime hydration. One healthy (and quick) option is Cucumber-Mint Water which takes five minutes to prepare. See myrecipes.com/recipe/cucumber-mint-water for the recipe.

Happy cooling!