Happy New Year’s Eve!! I hope that all of you Smarties have had a wonderful holiday so far. It is time to ring in the new year and look forward to school beginning again next week. I am looking forward to the slower pace that I am hoping 2009 will bring. The first weekend of the new year does not bring a lot in terms of planned events so I thought that I would highlight some great destination spots in town and within a couple hours drive. I have provided the links to all of the sites so you can check each destination out and plan a great excursion for your family. A personal favorite for my family is riding our bikes on the Little Sugar Creek Greenway with a pitstop at the Nature Museum and Freedom Park. Please share your favorite weekend activity with us, we would love find out about any hidden gems our city offers.
It appears the weather will be great this weekend so why not check out some of the great greenways our Park and Rec. Department support. These are great for the family and we love to ride our bikes on many of them.
Lynx – Light Rail
Take the Light Rail to visit many of the uptown spots. This is a great adventure for the kids and really lets you take advantage of walking around town, seeing some new sites and visiting some old favorites.
ImaginOn
What’s not to like? A children’s library and theatre all rolled into one. A really cool place for the family to learn and play together.
Discovery Place
Discovery Place is a favorite for young and old. The Circus exhibit is really cool and you can catch the last day of the ancient Greece display.
The Charlotte Nature Museum
this is a great spot for the little ones. The proximity to Freedom Park is also a plus.
Carolina Raptor Center
My kids love going to visit the “big birds”. The Latta Plantation Nature Preserve is a great spot to explore.
McDowell Nature Preserve
The trails here are very family friendly and it is a good “in-town” camping spot.
The Charlotte Museum of History
This is a great local spot to show the kids where “their city” began.
Latta Plantation
Just a really neat place!
The North Carolina Transportation Museum
Kids of all ages love it here.
North Carolina Zoo
The habitats are really neat. They do a great job of showing the animals in their natural habitats. The zoo is big and requires some walking. Keep this in mind with the little ones.
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
Great for the little ones. Big kids too. We always love feeding the camels and seeing the “mingos”. Easier to manage with stroller or backpack carrier.
The Schiele Museum
A jewel. They have great programming and neat exhibits.
Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens
Just a beautiful place to spend the day.
Happy New Year and if you have events you would like us to share please email me at courtenay@charlottesmartypants.com.
4 comments
Courtenay – great list to print out and keep for those rare weekends we don’t have plans! I wanted to second the Charlotte Museum of History. We went there a couple of weeks ago and took the tour – which is fabulous, by the way – so many details on how the Alexander family lived and what life was like in the 18th century here. The grounds make for a beautiful walk and the museum has some very kid-friendly exhibits. Also we love the Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill – very peaceful – the walk around the lake takes about 45 min and it’s a gentle easy walk. there are some other paths that have swinging bridges too, so lots of fun. and afterwards you can stop at the Peach Stand for a bite to eat or some fun prepared foods shopping. I wish you all a Happy New Year and thank you for making this site the wonderful site it is!
Love this list, Court! I also saw that the WBTV Holiday on Ice is still here for a few more days – it’s at the Green uptown. Also, just take your family skating at Pineville Ice House – that is a super fun family activity. I wouldn’t recommend taking any skaters under age 3 unless you plan on skating them around the entire time.
Awesome post! I’ll keep this list on hand for sure. Thank you!
I live in Salisbury and would like to suggest the NC Transportation Museum. The museum has many hands-on exibits and an authentic historic train. Many special events are held throughout the year featuring favorite children’s characters. It’s quite affordable, too. I have no affiliation with the museum, my family and I just love it. By the way, Dads enjoy it as well.