Topics Related to Things to Do

The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores turns 50 this year. To celebrate, the Aquarium will offer two unique events on July 11 as part of a year-long run of events celebrating the three North Carolina Aquariums. NCAPKS is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

A Birthday Splash daytime event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 11 at the Aquarium and is free with admission or membership. Rock the Reef, an evening event for ages 21 and up, will follow from 7-10 p.m. and will be a ticketed event.

When one door closes another one opens! NC Aquariums Discovery Bay is now open at Independence Mall, a unique underwater world for shoppers to visit right next to their favorite shops. With the official ribbon cutting today, Wednesday, July 8, visitors began touring this mini aquarium which features seahorses, frogs, fish and carnivorous plants. During the yearslong closure of the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher (NCAFF) for renovation and expansion, this spot creates connection between the team and the community.

The N.C. African American Heritage Commission (NCAAHC), Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, and the Z.

While most people think of dusty battlefields when they picture the Civil War, the real game-changing technology was happening on the water. On Saturday, July 11, the CSS Neuse Museum will pull back the curtain on this high-seas drama with its immersive summer program, “Sailors in the Summer: Ironclads and Naval Living History.” From 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., regional history will come alive through interactive exhibits, expert-led demonstrations, and hands-on family activities designed to show exactly what it took to survive as a sailor in the 1860s.

The North Carolina Zoo and Botanical Gardens, a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, recently surpassed a million hours of donated service since the volunteer program was established in the late 1970s.

Summer is in full swing at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island as the aquarium launches a refreshed lineup of hands-on, imagination-fueled camps for children ages 6 to 13. The aquarium is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and is one of four facilities within the N.C. Aquariums system.

The State Archives, a division of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR), will showcase original state constitutional documents with a July 4 exhibition, “To Preserve the Blessings of Liberty,” at the State Capitol.

The State Archives of North Carolina, a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, invites the public to attend an upcoming webinar, “From Enslavement to Reconstruction: Lives of the Greene County USCT,” to commemorate Juneteenth.

Fort Dobbs State Historic site will host Historic Trades Day on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. The site will come to life with the strike of a blacksmith’s hammer, the rasp of a saw, and snip of a tailor’s shears as it did when Fort Dobbs operated between 1755-65. Rather than a military garrison, the fort will bustle with costumed interpreters and professional historic tradespeople demonstrating the many ways people of colonial America made a living. The event is free and open to the public. Fort Dobbs is administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, within the N.C.