Father’s Day gifts: 5 things to do with Dad for under $150

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Father’s Day gifts are around the corner, and we’re splurging a little more on Dad this year. According to the National Retail Federation, the average person will spend $117.14 on Father’s Day gifts in 2012, up from $106.09 in 2011. The top spending category? Experiences, with people spending upwards of $2.3 billion taking Dad to restaurants, ballgames, and on vacations. This suggests that, more than anything, we want to spend time with our papas. So, in lieu of that ugly tie or NFL coffee table book, here are five suggestions for Father’s Day outings. All will cost you less than $150 per person, so you can spend the day together without breaking the bank.

1. Father's Day fishing course ($99 and up)

A Father's Day gift of the great outdoors? State-run wildlife fish and game departments across the country offer family fishing courses for under $100 a head.

Atlanta Fly Fishing School in Atlanta offers a five-hour beginners’ course for $125 per person. Clothier L.L Bean‘s Outdoor Discovery Schools in Freeport, Maine, offers an introductory fly-casting course for $99, as well as an introductory fly-fishing class for $129. (If you really want to splurge, you can book a fly-fishing cruise to the Bahamas through americanflyfishingschools.com. Rates start at $189 per night.)

An even cheaper Father's Day gift: Front the money for a pair of state fishing licenses, so you and Dad can take fishing trips together throughout the year. In Florida, for example, residents can buy combination freshwater/saltwater permits for $32.50 per year.

There are various Father's Day fishing tournaments around the country. The Port of San Diego is holding a Big Bay Father's Day Fishing Tournament from three of its ocean piers – with no charge for boys and girls under 16 who are accompanied by an adult. Marcus Hook, Pa., is holding a fishing derby on the Delaware River on June 17.

In anticipation of the big weekend, Washington State's Department of Fish and Wildlife is stocking 14 lakes with rainbow trout.

If the average Father's Day gift is less than $120, why are we touting ideas that can cost up to $150? Call it a plea for gender equality. The National Retail Federation reports the average person spent $152 on Mother’s Day this year. So why not buck projections and give Dad the same?

2. Baseball game ($7 and up)

Depending on where you live (and how well your team is doing), baseball games are a relatively cheap way to enjoy warm summer evenings. The relaxed pace of baseball makes it a pleasant outing even for nonsports fans. Furthermore, it’s early in the Major League Baseball season, so tickets won't be hard to come by in most cases. To catch a game at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, you can get single-game seats for $28 each (or less, if you don’t mind standing).

Or even less, if you don’t mind going late. According to a recent Boston Globe report, the current Red Sox season has been so lousy that the team is literally giving away tickets midgame.
Another cheap option: Hit up a minor league game. The Red Sox’ Triple A feeder team, The Pawtucket Red Sox, offers box seats to their home games for $11, and adult general admission seats for only $7.

3. Air and space/Air Force museum (Free and up)

I hate to make a sweeping generalization about dads on Father's Day, but allow me just this one, based on 20-plus years of field evidence: Dads love planes. Happily, there are air and space museums all over the country, with admission prices that range from cheap to free. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum offers free admission, with fees for select exhibits and shows. In case you’re outside the Washington, D.C., area, military.com offers a directory of  aircraft and Air Force museums as well as other military museums and memorials around the country.

4. Race car ride ($109-$135)

If your dad’s speed is a little faster than a walk through a museum, consider a ride-along in a stock car, where he’ll ramp up to between 165 and 175 miles per hour. The cheapest rides all clock in at just over $100. The Richard Petty Driving Experience, which runs at 23 racetracks across the country, has a Father’s Day special offering ride-alongs for $59 each.

5. Straight razor shave ($10-$20)

For the pampered dad (and son), why not go back to a slower, more manly time when men got together at a barbershop to talk, get their whiskers trimmed, and have some after-shave slapped on. Here's one barbershop locator to get you started, although you'll want to call around and find out who does straight razor shaves.



Source : http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2012/0614/Father-s-Day-gifts-5-things-to-do-with-Dad-for-under-150/Father-s-Day-fishing-course-99-and-up