Travel NC With Kids: January 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Linville Caverns – Enjoy North Carolina's Only Show Cave

Linville Caverns Near Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina © Katrena

Linville Caverns, located on highway 221 in Marion, North Carolina, provides a look at the Tarheel State from down under. The show cave of McDowell County offers a unique look at a beautiful, active cavern that is constantly changing with growing formations inside. This great family destination is a North Carolina Natural Heritage Area inside of Humpback Mountain located four miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Wheelchair Accessible Cavern in North Carolina © Katrena

Planning a Trip to Linville Caverns

The Linville Caverns web site recommends using directions provided on their site because GPS directions are not always accurate when trying to locate a location such as this. The drive is beautiful, but if you have kids who get carsick, be aware that these are winding mountain roads and plan the trip accordingly. You might want to eat after arriving – a stream is located right by the parking area that makes a peaceful location for a picnic.

Several other areas of interest are located near the cavern, so it may help to break up the trip to visit other sites nearby en route. One nearby area of interest is Linville Gorge. The drive from Boone is not terribly long, so folks might want to visit the cavern and plan to go to Tweetsie Railroad in the afternoon, especially if they are still offering the next day free special if visiting after a certain time.

Enjoy a Picnic Lunch Near Trout Stream at Linville Caverns © Katrena

What to Expect When Visiting Linville Caverns

The temperature within the cavern remains constant at 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Those of us who live in the south will more than likely want to wear a sweater or sweatshirt while touring the cave. The cavern may be wet, especially if frequent heavy rains have been in the area, so a raincoat or other waterproof protector may be wise depending on recent and current weather conditions.

Strollers and most baby carriers are not permitted within the cave, so it helps to have the kids well-rested before going on the tour. Visiting the restroom before the tour is also a prudent idea when traveling with kids. Non-skid, comfortable shoes are a good choice when visiting any active cavern. The group will stop every few feet so that everyone can get a chance to see the various formations and learn some history of the cave during the tour.

The hours at Linville Caverns vary throughout the year. During colder months, Linville Caverns is open only on weekends, but they operate on a daily schedule during most times of the year. This cave is mostly wheelchair accessible with only two short portions of the tour that would not accommodate a wheelchair. They have very reasonable prices with children under 5 admitted free with a paying adult and discounts for groups of 25 or more.

Stalactite in Linville Caverns

As with all other live caverns, this cave is protected by the federal government and visitors cannot touch or harm the live formations, but there are a few places in which the group is invited to touch certain walls if they wish. My kids loved that part! If traveling with young kids, you may need to remind them about the rules of not touching because many of the beautiful formations are quite tempting.

There is one part of the tour in which all lights are turned out for a few moments so that the group can experience total darkness, an experience only offered naturally deep within some caverns and in some parts of the ocean. It is a good idea for the kids not to wear light-up shoes or other clothing that glows. If they are wearing these items, it helps to remind them not to move or to cause the lights to come on. Children who are scared of the dark may wish to be held, but the tour guide will tell everyone before turning the lights out.

Awesome Tour Guide for Linville Caverns © Katrena

Great Guides at Linville Cave

All tours are guided and may be limited to 15 people, but tours leave on a scheduled basis throughout the hours of operation. We last visited during a busy time of year, and they had several guides working that day and our wait time was minimal.

I have been to Linville Caverns several times over the years, and I particularly remember our last guide named Orion. He mentioned that he had been doing tours for several years and he was outgoing and offered an very educational and interesting tour during our visit. I could readily see that he seemed to have a love for the cave's natural beauty and the animals that call Linville Caverns their home.

If you have never toured a cavern, the experience is amazing. The view from within a mountain can be just as breathtaking as the view from atop one. Summer months can get mighty warm in the South, and touring a cave can be a nice break from the heat. North Carolina boasts quite a variety of natural formations, and I would highly recommend this destination. All of my kids and I enjoyed the tour and had lots of fun playing on the rocks outside and mountain too.

I'll be writing additional articles featuring the formations, history, and animals at Linville Caverns and other family-friendly destinations in the state, so check back with Travel NC With Kids again soon!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Iredell Children's Museum Offers Creative Play in Signal Hill Mall

Children's Museum in Signal Hill Mall

Folks in and near Iredell county have probably visited Signal Hill Mall in Statesville and have seen the unusual swiss cheese looking windows peeking into the Iredell Museum's Kids@play housed there. Although small at 1700 square feet, this children's museum includes quite a bit of creative and fun play for a variety of ages and abilities.

Hands-on Learning at Iredell County Children's Museum

Creative Way to Teach Kids About Senses

The first display that my kids noticed was near the back of the main room. It is a huge wooden face with eyes, eyebrows, glasses, and a nose. The kids can go inside of this unusual display through a tunnel behind the eyes. Everyone will quickly find buttons to push that will make a variety of sounds and the kids can learn a little about echoes and other sound-related concepts. My youngest particularly liked the button that would sound like a baby crying.

Learn Creative Ways to Make Music

Musical Trees Teach About Pitch

One of my favorite displays is the musical trees. Place a small plastic ball on top of one tree, and it will bounce lower and lower on wooden "branches." These branches are different lengths that produce different pitches. If you listen closely, you will recognize a tune as the ball makes its way to the bottom of each musical tree.

Imaginative Fun in Kids@Play in Iredell County NC


Learn Laws of Motion in Children's Museum	© Katrena

I remember being told so many times as a child to look with my eyes and not my fingers. This museum encourages kids to look with their fingers as they have the opportunity to place their hands inside and feel a hidden object and see if they can guess which object they are touching in the display. This one looks like a huge hand and encouraged my kids to think and use their sense of touch. My second oldest child particularly likes to explore with her whole body, so lots of hands-on educational opportunities get a thumbs up from her!

Have Fun at Statesville Children's Museum

Work on Hand-Eye Coordination

Learn About Science at Children's Museum

Kids can also learn about movement, centrifugal force, inertia, energy, heat, and many other science-related concepts as the colorful signs on the wall capture lots of information about the how and way things work in the museum. The displays are colorful and enable the kids to try out those concepts in a concrete way...and, of course, have fun!

Be Creative While Learning

The back room was a particular favorite of my youngest child. She quickly found a variety of puppets and immediately made herself at home lining all of them up for a story. She grabbed a book from the collection provided and gave the puppets quite a tale!

Encourage Art and Fun

One wall in the back room is a huge chalkboard, where the kids can create their own creative and colorful works of art. There were also tables with chalkboards on them so that the kids could write and draw on them also.

Explore and Learn

The Statesville Children's Museum offers various art activities at the craft table that may be based on a current holiday or season. We also found musical instruments, puzzles, and other hands-on items like an abacus at another table in the back room. My oldest was excited to get a chance to play the xylophone. Dress-up clothes are also in the back room, and the kids are in for a surprise if they decide to look at themselves in the mirrors back there because they distort shapes in various ways.

Kids@Play in Statesville NC

Iredell County Children's Museum

My kids particularly liked an area where they could play with sand or clay (I'm not sure which it was) and make small castles, fill cups and spoons, and make interesting shapes with the utensils provided. The small manual train set gave them the opportunity to learn a bit about magnets and construction.

Learn About Animals and Nature

The area in between the two rooms has a nature and wildlife theme and the kids love watching the live fish in the tanks. They can look at various types and sizes of shells and information about wildlife. I particularly liked learning about unusual qualities of hermit crabs.

Find Friendly Staff at Iredell Museum for Kids

I found the Iredell Museums Kids@Play to be friendly and full of fun things to do. My kids are different ages, and it was nice to have a small area where they could all find something that they enjoyed playing where I could see each of them. They probably tried every noise maker in the place, and the lady working at the desk was very kind and offered help and tips throughout our stay. Just in case you are wondering, the kids weren't required to remove shoes in this museum. I guess my kids sort of felt at home here!

Colorful and Fun Setting Encourages Creative Play

Iredell County has two additional museum associated with the kids@play, including an art museum and a heritage museum. You may wish to read more about them at the Iredell Museums official web site. The Children's Museum of Iredell county first became incorporated in 1981 and has moved locations several times, but this non-profit organization continues to serve the learning needs of children in the area through the use of various programs, including this interesting museum that offers a creative, hands-on learning space.

Look for more creative and fun family-friendly places at the Travel NC With Kids site map.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Tweetsie Railroad – Ride the Rails & Enjoy a Wild West Show in NC

Most folks who have traveled down US Highway 321 through Watauga County, NC with the kids have probably seen or visited Tweetsie Railroad. The 200-acre amusement park opened July 4, 1957 and is located between Boone and Blowing Rock.

Tweetsie offers fourteen amusement rides for a variety of ages, a petting zoo, and several Western-themed shows, but the biggest attraction for most people is the coal-fired locomotive that rambles the rails around a three-mile stretch in the beautiful, scenic NC mountains.

I remember visiting Tweetsie as a little girl. I couldn't wait to sit on one of the play horses and see the train. Back in those days, Fred Kirby, a singing cowboy who made it to stardom, would meet the kids at the train. What an amazing time to get a chance to shake someone's hand that I had seen on TV! Adults who visit Tweetsie may reminisce about those days with Fred Kirby while bring the grands or great grands to the theme park...and just might try twirling a toy pistol around his finger while his grandchild is in the bathroom...shhhhh!

Wild West Show Near Boone & Blowing Rock

These days, some young guys, and perhaps even a few cowgirls, still embody a lot of the Wild West spirit as they act out a scene in front of the shops as visitors can look on from the train. They still have lots of play horses (I think my kids liked climbing up on these as much as any ride at the park), old time wagons, and more for photo opportunities. They also have several shops with lots of benches in the shade for those summer months.

People watchers may love Tweetsie. We met a great-great-grandmother who was in her 90s who was collecting hugs from all the kids. I also met someone at the theme park who had relatives buried in the cemetery right in the middle of the park. My mom remembers going to Tweetsie once many years ago when they stopped all the rides for a funeral. Some folks still come into the amusement park to place flowers or flags on the graves of loved ones.

Tweetsie ET&WNC Famous Steam Engine

If you are wanting the best seats on the train ride, choose the middle car and sit on the side closest to the rides - like the passenger side in a car. You'll get the best view of the two scenes on the far side of the mountain. Back when I was little, the cowboys and Indians would race each other through the aisles and provided a rather intense showdown, but these days, the show is much tamer.

Cowboys and Cowgirls at NC Theme Park

They do still have some gunfire, but it is intermingled with a bunch of foolishness, as we Southerners like to say. The train makes two stops and the actors take the action off the train. Most of the actors split up and ride on the train while visiting and will pose for a few pictures or are happy to answer questions while riding around the mountain. The actors wave and show the kids they are ok as the train begins to leave for the next stop. My girls particularly liked seeing the horse in the show.

Gunfight at Tweetsie Amusement Park

I took my family to Tweetsie last year, and we rode the train twice. We saw a completely different show each time. One of the cowboys said they were alternating the shows, so you might want to check with one of the actors the day of your visit to see if they are rotating shows so that you can plan your ride accordingly.

Steam Engine at NC Theme Park

Children who are scared of loud noises or big trains may enjoy the smaller mouse mine train ride at Tweetsie, or you might want to come prepared with ear plugs if they want to try riding. You could always put them in the Tweetsie jail if they act up...it's free and makes for a cute photo opportunity!

Coal-burning Locomotive Still Running at Tweetsie

The train ride is included in the admission for Tweetsie, and the train leaves on a regular schedule. Visitors can ride the famous train as many times as they wish during their visit. It is interesting just to watch how they fill the engine with tons of coal and add many gallons of water to the train, if the kids will stand still long enough for you to watch the process.

I particularly enjoyed Tweetsie Railroad because it's a small amusement park, has FREE parking (they may charge during special events), and the staff is very friendly, helpful, and nice. Although the amusement park can get very crowded during special events such as Thomas the Tank Engine days, when Dora the Explorer comes, or during the Haunted Train rides in October, most days are not very crowded, and many times there were very short lines. If they didn't have a line, the guys running the rides would let the kids ride for an extra long time.

Train Ride in North Carolina

Tweetsie Railroad is scheduled to open April 29, 2011 and plans to be open through October 30, 2011. See the Tweetsie official web site for specific information on pricing, times, and special offers. We took advantage of their deal where you could come after 3:00 p.m. one day and come back the next day for free. They offered me a discount for being a state employee, so doing a little research may be very helpful on saving a few dollars.

I have three kids with different interests who like to take off in all directions when I'm not looking. Buying the pink cowgirl hats with a tiara on front was a great way to keep up with all of them and it was a nice way to keep the sun out of their eyes.

Meet Cowboys and Indians at Tweetsie

Here are a few facts about the locomotive engines at Tweetsie for the train enthusiasts, obtained from the Tweetsie official web site.

Engine #12:

The engine was built in 1943 by Baldwin Locomotive Works.
The United States Army Transportation Corps used engine #12 in Alaska during World War II.
It was known as the "Yukon Queen" when used on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad after WWII.
Brought to Tweetsie in 1960.
Working weight with coal and water is 105 tons.

Engine #190:

The engine was built in 1917 by Baldwin Locomotive Works and originally sold for $14,000.
Only surviving engine of the original 13 East Tennessee & Western North Carolina (ET&WNC is also nicknamed Eat 'Taters & Wear No Clothes) narrow-gauge steam locomotives.
Working weight with coal and water equals 82.5 tons .
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

I was pleased to see that Tweetsie is still up and running after all these years. The scenery is beautiful, the atmosphere is laid back, and the kids got a chance to have a blast while I enjoyed remembering times of the past at Tweetsie Railroad!

Find more great travel destinations for the family at the Travel NC With Kids site map.