A Family-Oriented Gold Mine of Knowledge

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area

Visitors to North Carolina’s capital city of Raleigh, or to the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle have a number of excellent museums to explore. Whether your family’s interests tend toward great works of art, natural science, wildlife and ecology or history, the area has institutions that offer just what you want to see or know.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh is free to the public and offers a unique view of the world through the lens of North Carolina’s diverse geography, geology, plants and animals. Beginning on October 27and running through March 2, 2008, the museum will be hosting an innovative dinosaur exhibit featuring a 60-food model of an apatosaurus, a full-sized T. Rex skeleton as well as a robotic version that boasts of being the most accurate three-dimensional representation of a dinosaur in motion ever created.

There will also be one of the largest re-creations of a prehistoric environment ever built, and the museum is planning to offer a wide range of lectures, hands-on workshops and other programs for adults, families and children throughout the duration of the exhibit. The museum’s Prairie Ridge Ecostation in west Raleigh offers a stroll-through lowland arboretum that showcases every single wetland tree species in the state, a working exhibit of green architecture and a display of wildlife friendly landscaping.

The North Carolina Museum of Art boasts a permanent collection of masterworks that span a 5,000 year history, from ancient Egypt to modern artists. There are examples of Egyptian funerary art, sculptures and painted vases from the Greek and Roman periods, and important european works from Botticellii, Raphael, van Dyck, Rubens and Monet. There are galleries dedicated to African, ancient American and Oceanic art as well as Jewish ceremonial artworks.

Like the Natural Sciences museum, the NC Museum of Art offers daily guided tours and is free to the public. There are usually concerts, lectures, book signings, films, workshops and special exhibits going on as well, so check out the calendar of events when planning your visit.

Another treasure of free knowledge and fascinating facts is the North Carolina Museum of History, also in Raleigh. With artifacts and exhibits covering North Carolina’s native American prehistory and every century between then and now, there are also special events, exhibits, films, lectures and child-parent activities offered on a regular basis. The museum also houses the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Indian dance, basket weaving, mountain music, folk artists, even organized field trips make this museum a regular part of family life for residents of the tri-cities area and a popular attraction for visitors.

The Exploris IMAX theater offers the only 3D IMAX experience in North Carolina, so families will want to have tickets in hand when they arrive in the Raleigh area. There are other wonderful places to visit in the tri-cities area that would fill a family week up to the brim. Duke Gardens occupies 55 acres of the Duke University campus and is recognized as one of the premier public gardens in the U.S.

Just down the road at Chapel Hill’s UNC campus is the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Offering tours, classes, lectures and special events, the Garden also runs a self-service plant sale on a daily basis from April through October for everyone interested in gardening. While your family is at the UNC-CH campus you will want to visit the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, where you can meet some real scientists and view the heavens both at the planetarium shows and through the lenses of the observatory’s telescopes.

There’s always something going on for kids and families to do. Plenty of things to learn and fun adventures to be had at any of the fine museums, gardens and educational attractions in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.

Links:

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

Prairie Ridge Ecostation

North Carolina Museum of Art

North Carolina Museum of History

Exploris IMAX theater

Duke Gardens

North Carolina Botanical Garden

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

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Filed under Education, Family Activities, Gardens, Regional Crafts, Art, Museums, North Carolina |