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North Carolina Beaches
North Carolina Mountains
NORTH CAROLINA BEACHES

Wilmington, NC and Wrightsville Beach, NC;
Cape Fear (also Kure Beach and Carolina Beach)

 
Things to see and do:

 

The Children's Museum of Wilmington
116 Orange Street, Wilmington, NC 28401


Originally opened in 1997, the Children's Museum of Wilmington has continued to grow over the years and now has re-opened in its beautiful, expansive new home on a quaint, shady tree-lined street in historic downtown Wilmington.  The Children's Museum offers fun activities for children of all ages, including an Art Studio where children can create their own masterpieces, a Pirate Ship for climbing and exploring, with wonderful props for imaginative play (don't miss the hidden mermaid, octopus and giant oyster!), a Grocery Store where children can shop for pretend groceries or check-out groceries at the cash register, a pretend International Diner where children take orders and put on an apron and play short-order chef, Imagination Circus with lots of fun games and activities, a long train table with wooden trains and wooden boats, Animal Friends (where children can visit animals such as a chinchilla or a bunny rabbit), a Toddler Room for younger children and their parents or caregivers, a fun outdoor play area featuring giant bubble blowing, a rock wall and a giant rope spider's web for climbing, and so much more for lots of fun imaginative play!  Children won't want to leave and will enjoy visiting again and again!  
(910) 254-3534

 
 

 

- Battleship North Carolina (downtown Wilmington, NC) The most decorated U.S. Battleship of WWII has 15 battle stars and has been on tour since 1941.  Explore nine decks, crews' quarters, gun turrets, and much more.  (910) 251-5797.

- N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher (Amazing sea life right before your eyes!  Watch the sea horses and pet the starfish and other North Carolina sea creatures.  Interact with scuba divers who answer questions from the audience while swimming around with sharks, fish, skates, and other sea life!  Lots of fun for the whole family.)  Located on US 421 @ 15 miles south of Wilmington, just beyond Kure Beach.  From Southport take the Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry.  900 Loggerhead Road, Kure Beach, NC  28449.  (866) 301-3476. Read our BLOG about the North Carolina Aquariums

- Play on the beautiful expansive white sand beach at Wrightsville Beach.

- Carolina Beach State Park (Look for the Venus Flytraps!)

- Fort Fisher State Recreation Area

- Downtown Wilmington Historic Riverfront District (shops and restaurants in a beautiful historic riverfront setting; horse drawn carriage tours)

- Bike Riding

- Riverfront Farmers Market (Saturdays and Wednesdays, April - Sept.)

- Airlie Gardens (Airlie hosts First Friday Concerts in the Park from May - Sept.)

- Shopping in downtown Wilmington at the historic Cotton Exchange

- Bellamy Mansion Museum of History & Design Arts (spectacular restored 22-room antebellum house c. 1861and formal gardens.  (910) 251-3700.

 - Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson - Visit the excavated ruins of a colonial port town that was founded in 1726 and burned by the British in 1776; during the Civil War Fort Anderson was the site of a battle in 1865.  (Located off of NC 133 near Orton Plantation).  (910) 371-6613.

- Cape Fear Museum of History and Science (featuring Wilmington's Giant Ground sloth from the prehistoric era.)  (910) 341-4350.

- Hugh MacRae Park (giant public playground; lots of fun for children) - New Hanover County Parks.  Located  on Oleander Drive, one block East of S. College Road.

Hotels: The Blockade Runner Beach Resort
Blockade Runner

The Blockade Runner Beach Resort is a classic beach hotel/resort, on the beach at Wrightsville Beach, with gorgeous views and fun activities and events throughout the year. The Blockade Runner's beach program for kids was named one of the Top 10 Best Beach Programs by USA Today Travel!

Shell Island Resort, 2700 N. Lumina Avenue, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480, (800) 689-6765

Shell Island is a favorite beach destination for local families!  Nestled on the northern tip of Wrightsville Beach, Shell Island Resort is surrounded by a sprawling expanse of sand and unparalleled views of the Atlantic Ocean. The family-friendly suites feature walk-out balconies offering fantastic ocean views, and a white sand beach that seems to stretch endlessly.

Shell Island Photo Gallery

Visit the Shell Island Resort Website

   
Wilmington Festivals and Events:

 

- North Carolina Azalea Festival  (April)
- Airlie Arts Festival (April)

- Orange Street Arts Festival (May)
- Fantail Film Festival on the Battleship North Carolina (Fridays in Spring/Summer)
- River Fest (Fall Festival held each October in Historic Downtown Wilmington,
NC on Water Street.Wilmington's Annual Riverfront Celebration features live music, arts, crafts, food, ship tours, a children's carnival and much more. For more information call 910-452-6862.  The River Fest in past years has included an Annual Invasion of the Pirates Flotilla - check the website for more information.

 

Websites: www.gocapefear.com
www.cape-fear.nc.us/
www.gocapefearcoast.com or call (866) 266-9690 for a free visitors guide to Historic Wilmington and North Carolina's Cape Fear Coast.
Approx. Drive Time from Chapel Hill area to Wilmington: 2.5 - 3 hours

Bald Head Island, NC

Website: www.baldheadisland.com
Cars are not allowed on this beautiful and unique beach island.  Residents and guests take a 20-minute ferry ride to the island and use golf carts, bicycles, or their own two feet for transportation on the island.  (If you will be renting accommodations, ask whether access to the Bald Head Island club and pool are included.)

 

Approx. Drive Time from Chapel Hill area to Bald Head Island: 3-4 hours + 20-minute ferry

Beaufort by the Sea, NC
Wild ponies at Shackleford Banks, Blackbeard the Pirate, and the Crystal Coast!
Atlantic Beach, Morehead City and much more

Founded in 1709, Beaufort , NC is North Carolina's third oldest town.  Beaufort is the seat of Carteret County (the Crystal Coast), and is a great place to take historical strolls.  The historic homes are beautiful and the town is wonderfully scenic.  Visit the Old Burying Grounds (300 year old cemetery), Blackbeard the Pirate's House (The Hammock House), and go on the Beaufort Ghost WalkBlackbeard's ship, the "Queen Anne's Revenge," was discovered late 1996 in the shoals of the Beaufort Inlet at Beaufort, NC and recovery was expected to last several years.  Also visit the nearby islands for shell collecting and nature hikes.  Wild ponies roam at Shackleford Banks, not far from Beaufort!  

 

Things to see and do:



Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks North Carolina
Wild Horses of Shackleford Banks North Carolina
Book at Amazon

- Deep sea fishing
- Dolphin watching
- Restaurants and Shopping in Beaufort and Morehead City
- See Wild Ponies roam the beach at Shackleford Banks
- Cape Lookout National Seashore (Visit the beautiful old lighthouse on open house dates - by reservation only; or take a sailboat tour to Cape Lookout Lighthouse.)  The seashore is a 56 mile long section of the Outer Banks of North Carolina running from Ocracoke Inlet on the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southeast.
- Town of Atlantic Beach

- Rachel Carson Marine Estuarine Research Reserve on Carrot Island
- The N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores (Brand new renovation and expansion completed in 2006, including wonderful features like a sunken pirate's ship with sea life swimming all around it and much more.)  Located five miles west of Atlantic Beach off Highway 58 in the Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area.  P.O. Box 580, 1 Roosevelt Drive, Atlantic Beach, NC  28512-0580.  
(866) 294-3477.

- Fort Macon State Park (guards the Beaufort Inlet)
- The NC Maritime Museum
- Town of Beaufort
- Core Sound Waterfowl Museum
- Harkers Island 
- Beaufort Ghost Walk
- Legend of Blackbeard Tour
- Fun Activities for Kids on the Crystal Coast (Miniature golf, roller skating, bowling, etc.)
Beaufort Area Festivals and Events:

 

- The American Music Festival in Beaufort & Morehead City (The Magic of Mozart - concerts scheduled from July, 2005 through April, 2006)
- 45th Annual Old Homes & Gardens Tour, Beaufort (June 24 and 25, 2005)
          (http://www.historicbeaufort.com/bha/oht_brochure_2005.pdf - broken link)
- NC Seafood Festival (First Weekend Each October)

 

Websites: www.historicbeaufort.com
www.insiders.com/crystalcoast
www.nccoastchamber.com/tourism/

 
Approx. Drive Time from Chapel Hill area to Beaufort, NC: 3.5 - 4 hours

The Crystal Coast is at the southern end of the great barrier island chain called the Outer Banks.  It is a three-hour drive from Raleigh (a straight shot on U.S. Highway 70), and only a few  hours from Greenville.


Outer Banks, NC
Carova Beach, Corolla, Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Nags Head
Roanoke Island, Hatteras Island, Ocracoke Island

The Outer Banks is renowned for its pristine white beaches, and offers an abundance of things to see and do.
 
Things to see and do:


Book North Carolina Lighthouses
North Carolina Lighthouses
Book at Amazon
- The Lost Colony: Musical Theatre Under the Stars  (Roanoke Island) -- at the Waterside Theater at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (here Sir Walter Raleigh's explorers and colonists founded settlements on Roanoke Island in 1585.  Visitors center, book store, and nature trail; open year-round but closed Christmas day.  (252) 473-5772.

- The N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island (Located at 374 Airport Road, off Highway 64 Business on the north end of Roanoke Island near Manteo.)  P.O. Box 967, 374 Airport Road, Manteo, NC  27954-0967.  (866)332-3475.

- Wright Brothers National Memorial - Visit the site of the Wright Brothers' First Flight

- Run up and down the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk.  Visit Jockey's Ridge State Park - 42-acre park has the largest natural living sand dune on the East Coast.  (Walk around the valleys and hills of the dunes and picture what a desert might be like - all white sand and blue skies.)  Hang gliding, kite flying, hiking, visitor's center, gift shop, museum, picnic facilities and restrooms available. Watching the sun set on Jockey's Ridge is a popular beach outing at the Outer Banks.
Open year-round; 
free admission.  (252) 441-7132

- Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge - Enjoy hiking, kayaking, canoeing (guided canoe tours available for a fee) and wildlife observation at the Refuge with more than 150,000 acres of wetland habitats hosting wildlife ranging from wood ducks and alligators to black bears and red wolves.  (252) 473-1131

- Roanoke Island Festival Park - Visit the Elizabeth II, a sixteenth-century representative sailing ship (said to be an exact replica of the kind of boat the members of the "Lost Colony" sailed upon from England to Manteo, Outer Banks), and the Roanoke Island Settlement Site featuring blacksmithing, woodworking and games, Art Gallery, Interactive, Hands-on Museum that is great for kids & all ages, Museum Store, Fossil Pit, Film Theatre, waterside boardwalk, maritime forest and marsh conservation area, and more.  Picnic tables available.  Admission fee.  (252) 475-1506; (252) 475-1500.

- Visit the Elizabethan Gardens, a living memorial to the lost colonists.  Open year-round. Admission fee.  (252) 473-3234.

- Visit the Cape Hatteras National Seashore - extending more than 70 miles from South Nags Head to Ocracoke Inlet, with more than 30,000 acres.  Lighthouses, picnic areas, camping grounds.  (252) 473-2111.

- Bodie Island Lighthouse - This 156-foot tall striped lighthouse is not open for climbing, but there are nature trails and a visitor's center in the old keeper's quarters features exhibits, a bookstore.  Located eight miles south of US-158 and US-64 intersection within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

- Go on a guided tour to see wild horses on the beach (Corolla, Ocracoke)! Pick up any of the Outer Banks coupon magazines when you get there and you'll find lots of options.

- Take the kids for lunch or dinner at Goombay's in Kill Devil Hills (Mile 7 Beach Road) and have a "Shirley Shark" (beach version of the classic Shirley Temple; arrives with a fun surprise and a toy rubber shark -- Okay, we'll ruin the surprise:  our waitress poured the red grenadine from the mouth of the plastic shark into the ginger ale in a clear glass, causing the red grenadine to disperse, similar to the look of blood in the water.  Our kids were thrilled and delighted.  The most memorable kids' drink ever!)  Other drinks on the kids menu (each featuring a funny toy surprise) include the Crocodile Punch, Alien Elixer, Freaky Frog, Smiley Mon and Creepy Cola.  Kids also will enjoy the decor, fish tank, and underwater ceiling scene. (Look up a the ceiling and you spot a dolphin swimming at the "surface"/ceiling above you.)  Good food and lots of fun for the whole family!  See the menu and photos at www.goombays.com.

There is so much more to do at the Outer Banks!  We have listed some of the highlights here; to find more visit www.outerbanks.org.

Outer Banks Festivals and Events:

 

Click here for a comprehensive calendar of festivals and events in the Outer Banks.  A great resource for planning your trip to the Outer Banks!
Website: www.outerbanks.org
Approx. Drive Time from Chapel Hill area to the Outer Banks 5 - 5 1/2 hours
Outdoor Theater / Plays in North Carolina - Fun for the Whole Family:  Outdoor theaters are located throughout North Carolina, especially at the Beach and the Mountains. See our Guide to North Carolina Outdoor Theaters
NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS
Sponsor Messages:

Carolina Renaissance Festival 2021
Saturdays & Sundays
Oct. 2 - Nov. 21, 2021
https://www.carolina.renfestinfo.com/

 

Morehead Planetarium
Morehead Planetarium
Afterschool, Birthday Parties,
Summer Science Camps,
Planetarium Shows and Events


The Animal Hospital
112 W Main St, Carrboro

1870 Farm
1870 Farm Chapel Hill logo
* Summer Camps
* Farm Preschool & Kindergarten
* Birthday Parties * Gemstone Mining
* Meet the Farm Animals
1870 Farm

Spence's Farm
Spence's Farm
After School, Summer Camps,
Birthday Parties, lots more!

Immersion Island Summer Camp
Foreign Language Resources
and Summer Camps
Immersion Island

Chill Kids Family Magazine
ChillKids Monthly Print Magazine

LOST DOG: BUTTONS
LOST Chapel Hill Dog BUTTONS Bernese Mountain Dog

Lost in Chapel Hill;
sighted numerous times
in Durham; Near Hwy 70
Please Call or Text Owner
434-249-4283
If you see her please try to snap a photo!
BUTTONS Lost Dog - Please Look Out for Her & Call!
LOST DOG: Buttons of Chapel Hill
* 70 lb Bernese Mountain Dog "Buttons"
Black with white & brown markings
* Wearing Pink/Black collar with tags
*Friendly but nervous - please don't chase
*Info available on pawboost.com
*Seen in Chapel Hill AND Durham
* EVERY SIGHTING HELPS! Thank you!

 

DoorDash Chapel Hill Durham Restaurant Delivery
Chapel Hill / Durham / NC Triangle
Restaurants DELIVERY to Your Door
(No Delivery Fee on First Order)

DoorDash


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