Topics Related to Things to Do

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources offers holiday events to match every interest and taste. Holiday train rides at the N.C. Transportation Museum, a “Christmas Flotilla” at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort, “Christmas by Candlelight” at a state historic site and “Holiday Pops” or other performances with the North Carolina Symphony at home or on tour, are a few of the unique holiday experiences awaiting families at modest or no cost.

Opening Nov. 16 at Historic Stagville, Maya Freelon: Whippersnappers will premiere large-scale sculptures, archival photographs, paintings, and collages that transform the former plantation. Fully titled Whippersnappers: Recapturing, Reviewing, and Reimagining the Lives of Enslaved Children in the United States, Freelon’s first large-scale installation featuring portraiture was born from her research of enslaved children highlighted in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site will commemorate North Carolina’s military history with a “Military Timeline” Nov. 9. Visitors will learn about the experiences of soldiers and support personnel from the past 450 years. The educational program will offer a sample of soldier life through history.

Re-enactors dressed as soldiers and support personnel from the Civil War, World Wars, American Revolution, and many other time periods will present scheduled historic weapons firing demonstrations, along with ongoing displays of camp life, equipment, and cooking.

Do you have what it takes … to live and work in space? Find out at “Journey to Space,” a new exhibition opening at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on Saturday, Nov. 2.

This special exhibition, developed in partnership with NASA's Johnson Space Center, invites visitors to explore the extraordinary environment of space, including the dangers that astronauts face during their missions above Earth and the adaptations that engineers have developed to help them survive while in space.

The life and accomplishments of Governor Richard Caswell, North Carolina’s first state governor, will be commemorated Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Governor Richard Caswell Memorial in Kinston, N.C.

The North Carolina Museum of History is excited to announce

WHAT: Charlotte Community Gathering

WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 22, 6–7:30 p.m.

WHERE: 650 East 24th St., Charlotte, NC 28205

DETAILS: The North Carolina Museum of History invites community members in the Charlotte area to participate in an open discussion to help shape the future of the museum’s exhibits. This is an opportunity for the public to share their thoughts on how the state’s layered history should be presented to future visitors.

WHAT: Fayetteville Community Gathering

WHEN: Monday, Oct. 21, 6–7:30 p.m.

WHERE: 225 Dick St., Fayetteville, NC 28301

DETAILS: The North Carolina Museum of History invites community members in the Fayetteville area to participate in an open discussion to help shape the future of the museum’s exhibits. This is an opportunity for the public to share their thoughts on how the state’s layered history should be presented to future visitors.

Before it was a pirate ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge was known by another name.

The ship, La Concorde, was a slave-trading vessel that became the infamous pirate Blackbeard’s flagship.

Archaeological Conservators and Researchers with the N.C. Office of State Archaeology will explain the history of the ship Nov. 2 during their “Saturday at the QAR Lab” tours of the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab in Greenville.