At the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento, business is holding steady.

“Our attendance is pretty much on track, pardon the pun, from our numbers last year.” 

Museum spokeswoman Patty Brown says 278,000 people came to the museum between January and November - only a few hundred down from last year. She says the museum is a big draw for local residents who are opting for “stay-cations”. 

“Certainly we’re getting a lot of local visitation.” 

And the same holds true for the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, where attendance is up. 

“We’re up about 3,000 over last year. We hit 26,500 last year and we’re about 29,000 this year.” 

Crocker spokeswoman LeAnne Ruzzamenti says art museums typically see a boost in attendance during difficult times. 

“People are just looking for a place to escape. They need a little bit of a reprieve from all the bad news. And frankly we offer a really inexpensive way for the family to spend some time together.” 

But she says although attendance is up, the sagging economy is making charitable contributions to the museum less stable.