I understand this tip is not for everyone, but I just wanted to point out the benefits of these organizations. We recently got back from a trip to the Fort Walton Beach-Destin area of Florida and regular restaurant and drink prices were what you would expect in a tourist town. For instance, one place wanted $16.95 for a pitcher of beer and $11.95 for a burger and fries.
Contrast this with the prices at these lodges. Draft beers were $1 and cocktails were $2.25 or $2.50. You could get a burger and fries at the Elks Lodge for about $6. One place was serving a bowl of chili for $2.50. Other times the food was free. The quality was all perfectly fine to very good.
The Lodges were entertaining as well. We played bingo at one place for $1 a game and they had free sub sandwiches (that were truly excellent) while we played. There was live entertainment on other nights.
The people, while older, were all very pleasant and welcoming. In short, our trip turned in to figuring out what was going on at the various lodges and we planned accordingly. Visits to these places were quite a bit more fun (to us) than just heading out to the touristy restaurants. Note that you have to be a member to use the facilities (and at least someone in our party was), but if you are not a member and want to join one the process can range from fairly easy (Moose lodge or VFW if you meet certain criteria) to easy but you have to do more than fill out a form (Elks). In all cases; however, if you want to just go in and check it out you can usually just go to the bartender and tell him or her you are just looking and you will get signed in for the day.
Finally, these organizations are centered on charitable causes, so it might also be fun for you to actually get involved in one, and your money is likely to be going to a good cause at the end of the day.
In short, I just wanted to get that message out there because I didn't even really realize the potential benefits of joining a lodge until just recently. I am the type of person that would have loved going to such places even when I was in college. In general, "young people," (anyone under 55 or so) are treated extremely well in these places.