Family Fun in the Queen City

This spring break my daughter and I decided to visit Charlotte,the largest city in NC. The four hour drive from Wilmington is easy to make in one day but far enough away to feel like a real vacation. The city and its surrounding communities are full of wonderful, family friendly attractions. In the three days that we stayed, we were able to visit six different attractions. Here are the highlights from three points of interest.

ImaginOn

ImaginOn is the perfect union of a library, theaters and interactive exhibits. The 102,000 square foot building is home to an expansive children's library, the Children's Theater of Charlotte and some creative spaces for children of all ages.

Visitors to ImaginOn can expect to find more than just books in the library. There are interactive literacy stations throughout the facility and many areas in which children can create their own stories with puppets, costumes and more. For older children, there is a space specifically designed for them to check out materials, use technology and even produce videos and movies.

The building houses two large theaters that feature professional productions by the Children's Theater of Charlotte. A costume and production shop are also on-site for the creative teams that work on the featured productions. In addition, the Children's Theater offers educational programs, workshops and summer camps.

ImaginOn is the first public building in Mecklenburg County to be certified by the US Green Building Council. So, in addition to all the other fun things to do, families can check out the variety of green features including doors made from plastic bottles and floors made from old tennis shoes!

ImagineOn is a free attraction.

Discovery Place

Discovery Place is an interactive science museum that makes learning fun. The museum has live animal exhibits, creative exploration and problem solving stations and 3-D and IMAX theaters.

The World Alive section of the museum includes a 2 story rainforest room filled with plants and several animal species that you would see in an actual rainforest. There is also an aquarium that features animals from NC and beyond and an area in which visitors can touch sea creatures.

Think It Up and Project Build challenge visitors to use problem solving strategies to create and build everything from houses to new shoes. Using scraps and duct tape my daughter was able to construct a purse in the Think It Up area.

Cool Stuff allows visitors to experiment and explore physical science phenomena. The above photo shows children learning about Bernoulli's Principle by playing with balls and air tubes. There is also a bed of nails for kids to experience how weight distribution works in this area.

For those interested in a show during their visit, there are many live science shows daily as well as 3D movies. IMAX movies are also available for an additional charge.

Admission for Discovery Place is $15 for adults and $12 for children.

Carowinds

Carowinds, located about 20 minutes from downtown Charlotte, is a theme park for guests of all ages. There are several high-speed thrill rides for those daredevil guests and many family rides for younger children and those guests that like to stay closer to the ground.

Planet Snoopy was the perfect location for my 7 year old to experience some excitement. The more daring rides such as the Woodstock Express and Flying Ace Aerial Chase are perfect beginner roller coasters. There are also several other rides that are much more low key such as Peanuts Pirates and Flying Ace Balloon Race. We spent most of our day in Planet Snoopy and rode almost all of the rides.

In other areas of the park, we found additional family rides such as Dodg'em Cars and high flying swings called the YoYo. There is also a new 3-D attraction called Plants Vs. Zombies that we checked out. In this 3-D digital experience, each guest gets to be part of a battle between plants and zombies in a competition to collect Golden Gnomes. This interactive experience was one of our favorites.

Tickets for admission to Carowinds are $62.99 for adults and $42.99 for kids at the gate. Purchasing tickets online can save adults $20 per ticket. Also, be sure to bring additional money for snacks and drinks. The average cost of a soda was $4 and meals were around $12.

Check back for 3 more Charlotte attractions.