Happy Wednesday Smarties! Get out the phone and be ready to book your reservation – Queens Feast is here. Up for a girls night for a good cause? Painting with a Twist is hosting a Bachelorette Event and 50% of the proceeds will go to the Ricky Hendricks Foundation to benefit the ICU @ Levine’s Childrens Hospital of Charlotte. Hayrides, campfire stories, dinosaurs and a family movie round out the weekend. Get out and enjoy!
Queen’s Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week®
July 20-29
Enjoy a foodie fantasy during Queen’s Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week®, July 20-29, 2012!
Discover the best of Charlotte’s ever-evolving restaurant landscape as top chefs, new hot spots, and popular favorites show off their wares during this 10-day eating extravaganza. Over 100 upscale restaurants will offer 3 courses (or more) at dinner for only $30 per person (not including tax and gratuity). Reservations are recommended. Take a tour through the participating restaurants’ special menus, and book your table today!
The Bachelorette Event: Painting with a Purpose After the Final Rose
Monday, July 23, 6:00pm-9:00pm
Painting with a Twist
Painting with a Purpose: 50% of proceeds from this session will be donated to the Ricky Hendricks Foundation to benefit the ICU @ Levine’s Childrens Hospital of Charlotte. Special arrangements for participation from vendors as seen on this season’s The Bachelorette. Participants will receive a rose from Flowers Plus and jewelry as worn by Emily Maynard will be featured from Towne & Reese. Prizes & Giveaways as well as light appetizers & drinks provided. Limited seating available. Reserve your seat today!
Nature at Night Hayride
McDowell Nature Center
July 20, 8:15pm-9:45pm
Bring your family and experience McDowell Nature Preserve at night. Weather permitting we will venture into our Prairie in search of coyote, bobcat, deer, and owls while taking in the sights and sounds of the night. Limited seating available, pre-register (17 spots) or come to the Family Campfire early to take advantage of first-come first-serve seating (min. 10 spots), contact McDowell Nature Center at 704-588-5224 for more information. Cost is free.
Campfire Stories
Reedy Creek Nature Center
July 20, 7:00pm-9:00pm
Enjoy an evening in the woods around the campfire with nature stories read by the fire. Families welcome.
Bright Blessings USA
The Giving Village, 608-A Matthews Mint Hill Rd, Matthews, NC
July 20, 10:00am-11:00am
Bring the kids to The Giving Village and participate in activities to help local homeless children. Space is limited & advance registration is required. Sign up today! Cost is $10.
Diggin’ on Dinos – Creature Feature
Charlotte Nature Museum
July 21, 10:00am-1:00pm
From feathers and claws to fins and jaws, dinosaurs are one of the most diverse species to ever roam the planet. Unearth a whole new appreciation for these perplexing paleo pals at Charlotte Nature Museum’s July Creature Feature. Little paleontologists can embark on giant adventures, including a Big Fossil Find Dig and uncover ‘sand fossils’, and explore the Museum’s own fossil collection. Visiting exhibitors will offer a chance to get claws-on with an array of fossil artifacts and replicas including eggs, claws, teeth, bones and more. Don’t miss the dinosaur models and even the opportunity to hold dino dung. And it may make you giggle, but dinosaur scat is important to paleontologists just like backyard animal scat is important, because it teaches us about animal life. Don’t miss Snappy, our resident American alligator [Alligator mississipiensis] and Texas Pete, our Texas tortoise [Gopherus berlandieri] who will be on hand to greet visitors. Learn how dinosaurs were similar and different to modern-day animals including those you may spy in your own backyard. Before becoming extinct from exhaustion, roar into Story Time with tales including “If Dinosaurs Came Back” by Bernard Most, “Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones” by Bryon Barton, “Dazzle the Dinosaur” by Marcus Pfister and “Dinosaur’s Day” by Ruth Thomson. Trek in for the Puppet Show “Carolina Morning” and dig up your inner artist by making fossil casts and a dinosaur fossil craft with household items. Trails’ End Store will be selling cool items including a T-Rex plastic puppet chomper head and a dinosaur 3D book and water game. Cost is $6 ages two and older, younger-than-two and Members are free.
Learn & Grow Discovery Farm
Patterson Farm
July 20-21, 9:00am-1:00pm
Children will learn where their food comes from as they “work” the farm through 15 interactive learning stations. Through fun simulations, they’ll learn to “milk” a cow, “harvest” honey & produce, “gather eggs” from the coop, and feed the animals. Cost is $8, under 2 is free.
National Geographic Crittercam
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.
Dinner and a Movie – Cars 2
Carolina Place Mall
July 21, 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.
