Smarty Scoop on Weekend Activities: June 8-10

Happy Wednesday Smarties! Celebrate the end of school and the beginning of Summer by heading Uptown for Taste of Charlotte. While you are enjoying the food, take a break and visit Discovery Place. The new Crittercam exhibit is incredibly cool! The Symphony Summer Pop’s series also makes its return this weekend. Would be the perfect way to close out the first weekend of summer. Get out and enjoy!

Taste of Charlotte
Uptown Charlotte
June 8-10, Fri.-Sat., 11:00am-11:00pm; Sun., 11:00am-6:00pm
Charlotte’s Kick-off Summer Event! Enjoy an array of culinary delights from Charlotte’s area restaurants. Play at Adventure Village, a full block-long kids’ area, and try unique brews at the Tavern at the Taste. Admission is free and you can purchase coins for food samples and beverages online.

Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club Family Fun Fest
Blakeney Shopping Center
June 8, 4:00pm-9:00pm
Grab your family, friends, and neighbors for an evening of family fun and entertainment at Blakeney Shopping Center. The US Airways Family Fun Fest offers summer fun for folks of all ages with a Kid’s Fun Zone sponsored by Harris Teeter, bounce house, rock climbing wall, trackless train, crafts and other fun activities. The event is free, but Kid’s Fun Zone wristbands are $5 per person or $15 per family.

National Geographic Crittercam – NEW!
Discovery Place
Through September 16
What do wild animals do when humans aren’t around? Take a rare peek into the private lives of animals through Crittercams, imaging devices worn safely by wildlife. Designed to help researchers learn how animals live, eat and care for their young, these tools enable us to better understand how to protect the very animals that wear them. Take a wild ride as you experience the world from an entirely new perspective – dive deep with penguins, hunt with lions, lurk with crocodiles and much more.

Matthew’s Summer Concert & Movie Series: Charlotte Symphony
Stumptown Park
June 8, 7:00pm (Note – Friday night instead of Saturday)
Come out to Stumptown Park every Saturday night for free concerts and movies in the park! Concerts begin at 7 PM. This week we feature Cars II. Pre-performance: Classical guitarist with percussionist. Vendors will be on site selling dinner food, treats, and drinks. No pets please.

Tweetsie Railroad’s Day Out With Thomas: Mystery On The Rails Tour 2012
Tweetsie Railroad
June 1-10, Sat., 8:00am-6:00pm; Sun-Fri., 9:00am-6:00pm
Day Out With Thomas™ is a family event that offers aspiring engineers and their families the unique opportunity to take a ride with the classic storybook engine, Thomas the Tank Engine™. Your ticket for Day Out With Thomas includes:
– One train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine
– Thomas & Friends themed entertainment
– Thomas & Friends Storytelling and Video Viewing, and an Imagination Station with Thomas & Friends coloring sheets, temporary tattoos, stamps, train tables and Mega Blox™!
– All the amusement rides, live shows and attractions at Tweetsie Railroad
– Meet Sir Topham Hatt, the Chairman of the Railway on the Island of Sodor
– Enjoy plenty of opportunities to find great Thomas & Friends merchandise at the Thomas & Friends Gift Shop located in Tweetsie Junction
Cost is $35 for adults; $22 for children age 3-12; Children under 2- free.

Dinner and a Movie –Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – Rated G
Carolina Place Mall
June 9, 5:00pm-9:00pm
Carolina Place is going Hollywood this summer, as the mall launches “Dinner and a Movie” on Saturday evenings in June and July. The lineup of family-friendly box office hits will air each Saturday from June 2 to July 28 (excluding July 7). The events take place in the grass courtyard directly beside REI, near the parking lot for the food court entrance. All summer long, families can take a break from cooking on the weekends and enjoy special dining offers from 5 – 9 p.m. at participating mall restaurants. On-site service includes meals from Chick-fil-A, cookies and tea from McAlister’s Deli and free popcorn, while supplies last. Pre-show entertainment begins at 7:30 p.m., with Radio Disney on site for two special Disney movie nights. Other nights will feature a variety of performers such as magicians and clowns. Movie pre-shows begin about 20 minutes prior to dusk, with the movies starting at sunset. The outdoor setup will include surround sound and a 23-foot, inflatable movie screen – the same size as a theater screen. Families are encouraged to bring blankets to create a comfortable seating area.

Carolina Place/Radio Disney “Brave” Day at the Mall
Center Court and other locations around Carolina Place Mall
June 9, 11:00am-1:00pm
Celebrate the new Disney/Pixar release Brave with Radio Disney at Carolina Place. Brave day features the opportunity to win fantastic prizes, including:
Tickets to the movie premiere at AMC Carolina Pavillion on Monday, June 18
A trip for four to an outdoor family adventure, or a trip to the Scottish Highland Games in San Francisco
Mall Gift Cards
Games, activities and giveaways include:
First 50 kids receive a free Brave Poster
Character look-alike contest
Brave Trivia
The Amazing Archery Contest
Scottish or Nottish?
Bagpipe Bonanza
Catapult Launch
Castle Garden Maze
Design a Scottish Castle
Brave Craft table
Actors from the North Carolina Renaissance Fair

Charlotte Symphony Summer Pops Concerts
Symphony Park at SouthPark
June 10
Summer Pops helps us kick off the season in Charlotte. Tickets are sold online and over the phone until 4 pm on Friday afternoons. Walk-up tickets go on sale on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm at three locations at the park . Gates will open at 5 pm; you cannot enter the park to reserve a spot until the gates open .
Prelude act begins at 7 pm; Charlotte Symphony begins at 8:15 pm . Food and beverage are permitted inside the park and for the comfort and safety of all guests, high-back/camping chairs, umbrellas, tents, pets, weapons and smoking are strictly prohibited inside the park. Cost is: Summer Pops Pass (Five Concerts) $35, Adults, $10 and Children under 18 are free.