Topics Related to Things to Do

Throughout time, carvers, cabinetmakers, furniture makers, and carpenters have been crafting objects to serve as functional, social, and aesthetic pieces of work. Signatures or marks left by the craftsperson, whether incised/scratched or those of chalk, paint, pencil, or ink, allow a piece of wood to be transformed into a reflection of society, culture, economics, and trade. This exhibition, which opens November 11, 2023, explores the gift of crafting treasures from wood while highlighting the training and abilities of the crafter.

Trash is scary and this Halloween season, the community is invited to work together to slay pollution at the Boo to Trash Beach Cleanup, Sunday, Oct. 22, 8-10 a.m. at Carolina Beach Pier hosted by the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, the Town of Carolina Beach and Carolina Beach Pier. Everyone is invited to wear a favorite costume for a contest and the Aquarium will provide the treats!

Under sunny skies on Sept. 16, a short and heartfelt ceremony dedicating a popular bronze sea turtle sculpture in memory of Millie Overman was held. Millie is known to many as the matriarch of the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (N.E.S.T.) and of sea turtle conservation on the Outer Banks.

Leading women scientists in the Cape Fear region will highlight the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (NCAFF) 2023 Femme in STEM Saturday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. With exciting hands-on activities and experiments, visitors will have the opportunity to look through microscopes, experience a tornado machine, and even get their hands dirty with some soil samples.

Take A Child Outside Week, an international initiative spearheaded by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, kicks off Sunday, Sept. 24 and runs through Saturday, Sept. 30. 

Music is deeply ingrained into North Carolina’s identity just as much as the peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the rolling fields of the Piedmont or the waves crashing along the coastline. The North Carolina Museum of History is proud to announce a new concert series, Tar Heel Troubadours, as a celebration of North Carolina’s musical heritage. Experience Americana, roots, bluegrass, and traditional music performed by artists from or living and working in North Carolina in an intimate venue with accessible ticket prices.

Join the Museum of the Albemarle on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 at 4 p.m. for a Gingerbread Workshop.

Join the Museum of the Albemarle on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. for a Celebration of Regional Tribes. Guests will have the opportunity to interact with members of regional tribes, who will share their cultural traditions and ties to the land. The museum will have a Take-It-Make-It packet with educational information on regional tribes and activities. The Gypsy Shack will be face painting between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. special symbols that relate to nature, the earth, and animals.

Open your brown bag picnic and join the State Archives of North Carolina for a virtual program, "Lunch & Learn on the Trails."

Staff will showcase records in the Archives relating to the 2023 Year of the Trail initiative. A roundtable discussion with the State Archives’ podcast team will explore the origins and evolution of the Great Trails State, tourism, and programs to promote health and environment through documents and imagery. Follow the paper trail through the Archives on a journey of historical discovery!

A state park in the migratory path of the monarch butterfly will host a festival to raise awareness about the declining population of this colorful creature.

Gorges State Park in Transylvania County will host the second annual Mountain Monarch Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the park’s visitor center. The festival will celebrate the monarch butterfly during its migration south through North Carolina to the high-elevation fir forests of Mexico’s Neovolcanic Mountains, where they overwinter until early spring.