Lucky Leprechaun 5K Run

Lucky Leprechaun 5K Run

Get into the St. Patrick’s Day Spirit on March 10th, 2012! Wear Green and show your Leprechaun Spirit! The course is flat, fast and beautiful as it parallels the ocean along the east side of the island.

The Winds is offering all race participants a 25% discount on all accommodations for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We are also throwing a Post-Race Party for participants staying at The Winds. Ask for details when you reserve your room. Please go to http://its-go-time.com/lucky-leprechaun-run-march-10 to register for the race.

 

 

Planetarium Sky Theater Shows

When: Hourly Shows on Fridays and Saturdays

Where: Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach, NC

Admission is per show. Attend one show and receive $1 off your ticket for a second show.

Admission: $8 adults, $6 seniors and students, $4 children ages 3 to 4, and free for ages 2 and under.

Due to safety concerns, late arrivals will not be seated once the show starts.

Learn more here: http://museumplanetarium.org

1:00 — Seven Wonders

Go back in time and witness the seven ancient wonders of the world as they have not been seen for thousands of years. Then journey through space and see the seven cosmic wonders as they have never been seen before. Appropriate for all ages.

Click here to view the trailer on our YouTube Channel

2:00 PM — Two Pieces of Glass

Learn about telescopes: Two pieces of glass placed in a metal tube reveal the wonders of space if one learns how and where to focus. Appropriate for all ages.

3:00 PM – Oasis in Space

Voyage through the solar system and deep into the universe in search of water, the key ingredient to life on earth. Appropriate for all ages.

Click here to view the trailer on our YouTube Channel

 

The Ingram Planetarium

The stars shine brighter at Ingram Planetarium (5 minutes from Calabash, NC) with the recent installation of the world’s third SciDome HD Digital projection system.

Relax in the Sky Theater’s seats as you zoom through space to Jupiter and look back toward Earth.

After the Planetarium staff point out the constellations and planets on the Sky Theater dome, locate them on your evening beachwalk. Ingram Planetarium has great star shows, laser music shows, and programs about astronomy, science, and space exploration.

Programs and schedules change seasonally. The SciDome HD Digital Sky Theater simulates a perfectly dark, starry night and it is unsafe to move around during the shows. Late arrivals are not admitted to the theater. Groups should call for reservations and instructions.

During the busy summer season The Planetarium offers fun family activities on various topics.

What visitors have enjoyed in the past included:
Assembling space shuttle replicas
Building & launching rockets
Lessons on Solar Energy
Putting together a Rainbow Maker
Making a real Comet
Lesson with Solar Furnace
Using our Solar Telescope
Shadow Drawings

In the Paul Dennis Science Hall they offer projects to challenge children of all ages as well:

Building solar cars was a favorite last summer

Located at:
The Village at Sunset Beach
7625 High Market Street
Sunset Beach, NC 28468

http://www.ingramplanetarium.org

Vereen Memorial Park & Gardens!

Located in Little River, SC, and only minutes away from Calabash, NC!

One of the best kept secrets in the area, this park features pathways and wooden boardwalks that extend across several beautiful salt marshes and small islands, with a nice gazebo that overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway and the distant waterfront of Little River.

With convenient access directly off Rt. 17 and Rt. 179, you can park and take a 5 minute stroll out across some incredibly scenic pathways to find yourself at a wide observation deck extending into the waterway.

The view is excellent, the cost is free, and the experience is unique!

A 114 acre tract of woodlands and salt marsh one mile south of the South Carolina State line from Calabash, North Carolina, the beautiful Vereen Memorial Historical Gardens extends more than 1,000 feet in width, from U.S. 17 to the Little River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

The Vereen Gardens is a small portion of a 400 acre plantation that has been in the Vereen family since colonial days. The land donor was Jackson Hiram “Jack” Vereen of Madarin, Florida, who was born in Little River in 1882, the son of Hartford Jennings Vereen and the former Florence C. Frink of Brunswick County, N.C.

In 1972, Jack Vereen deeded the property to the Horry County Historical Commission. The Gardens include the historic Vereen Family Cemetery, which features Revolutionary war graves. The Vereens were instrumental in having the old family cemetery restored in the late 1950′s.

The Vereen Gardens also includes the Kings Highway which was a part of the Atlantic Coastal Transportation system, in place, at least from the time of the earliest white settlement in the American colonies. It is said to have been traveled by Lafayette in 1777 and Washing in 1791. It is one of the few stretches of the Kings Highway to retain its unpaved original appearance.

Vereen Memorial Gardens – On Jan. 1, 1797, this land was a portion of 400 acres that was conveyed to Jeremiah Vereen, Jr. Vereen was of French Huguenot descent. The French spelling of the family name was “Varin”. The Vereens came to this continent in 1680 and were in the Winyah area by 1736. This land was part of Big Landing Plantation. In April, 1972 115 acres was deeded to the Horry County Historical Commission by Jackson Hiram Vereen to be used as a botanical garden and nature trail.

The Tract contains the Vereen Family Cemetery

Distance: 3.00 mi
Type: Road/Trail, Loop
Difficulty: 2 / 10
Altitude: 25 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 20 ft / 20 ft
Dog Friendly: Yes
Jog-Stroller Friendly: Yes
Filed Under: Hiking, Running

Ft. Fisher Hermit At Museum

Robert E. Harrill, known as the Fort Fisher Hermit, lived for 17 years under the stars, living off the land and visitors’ contributions. These visitors came by the thousands each year to meet “The Hermit.” A misnomer from almost the beginning, “The Hermit” treated anyone who came by with a warmth and friendly appreciation that was contagious.

At the impressionable age of twelve, Harry Warren and his father visited the Fort Fisher Hermit at his bunker.  They watched as he scurried barefoot around his camp wearing a tattered straw hat.   An old iron frying pan was out for people to make a contribution.

As an adult, Harry Warren began his career at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher with an exhibit about Robert Harrill, the Fort Fisher  Hermit.  Robert Harrill lived under the stars and off the land, and survived with contributions from visitors for 17 years.

Come to the Museum of Coastal Carolina on Ocean Isle Beach to hear about his survival skills and the story of the man who became a local legend.

Harry Warren, Director of the NC Forestry Museum in Whiteville, will present the program, The Fort Fisher Hermit, at the Museum of Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, February 8 at 7 p.m.   Lectures are free with Museum admission. The Museum opens at 6:30 p.m. for self-guided tours.  The program starts at 7 p.m. and lasts about an hour.  Lecture programs are included in membership.

Other upcoming activities at the Museum are Preschoolers Day Out on Fridays at 11, Protect our Sea Turtles on March 12,  What is BrunswickCatch.org? on April 12,  Family Day on April 23, and What Kinda Fish Is That, Mister? on May 14.

The Museum of Coastal Carolina, NC’s only natural history museum on a barrier island, is located at 21 East Second Street, Ocean Isle Beach,
beside the playground and just a block from the beach and the pier.  Enjoy coastal natural history . . . for the fun of it!  Seven themed galleries
with dioramas, exhibits, hands-on activities and a tidal touch tank with live sea animals feature the natural history, environment, and culture of the Coastal Carolinas.

The Museum’s winter and spring hours are Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. through May 28th.  Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for senior adults 60 & over, $6 students K-12 & College ID, and $4 Preschool ages 3-5, Ages 2 & under are free.  Annual memberships are available.  The Museum is a great place to volunteer and volunteers are needed.  Check www.museumofcc.org or call 910.579.1016 for further information.

Two Pieces of Glass at Planetarium

Ingram Planetarium also has family-friendly activities.   In the Paul Dennis Science Hall during February,   check out self-guided, independent activities for Small Bodies:  Big Impact from NASA’s Year of the Solar System.  Sky Theater shows are Two Pieces of Glass,  Astronaut,  Seven Wonders, and Interstellar Boundary Explorer on Fridays and Saturdays through May 28 from 1-4 p.m.  Laser music shows are on February 18 & 19 with Laser Vinyl at 5 p. m. and Laser Pink Floyd:  Dark Side of the Moon at 6 p.m.  The Planetarium is located at 7625 High Market Street in Sunset Beach and has digital sky theater shows about astronomy, science, space exploration, and laser rock & roll music shows.  Winter and spring hours are Fridays and Saturdays only from 12:30-4 p.m. through May 28.  Admission per show is $8 Adult and $6 for Senior Adults and children.  Memberships and volunteer opportunities are available.  Groups should call for advance reservations
and instructions.  Call 910.575.0033 or visit www.ingramplanetarium.org for more information.

Museum of Coastal Carolina

If you think museums are stuffy, quiet places that people visit for research, contemplation, or when there’s nothing else to do, then you haven’t visited North Carolina’s only natural history museum on a barrier island. New exterior murals predict some of the things you’ll see inside the Museum of Coastal Carolina at nearby Ocean Isle Beach (15 minutes from Calabash, NC).

Happy, interactive voices are encouraged! One might hear toddlers calling out “Boat, Daddy, boat!” as they climb into the wooden strip boat made here in Brunswick County. Staff and volunteers often hear “Whoa!” when visitors approach the shark jaw exhibit. Carolina residents track their local rivers to the sea and parents teach their young children to keep the beach clean and protect the animals from trash as they pass the Litterbug Hall of Shame.

Imagine getting up close to the area wildlife on display in the Green Swamp diorama. Then touch or hold a sea star, an urchin, or a hermit crab at the touch tank. Learn the inside story of shells at the newly updated Carolina Shells and Fossils exhibit. Don’t forget to bring your beach treasures to identify.

Hear “oohs and aahs” as you take a walk through the Ocean Reef Gallery that depicts a reef habitat about 65 miles off the coast of North Carolina. The toddler area in the Barrier Island Gallery has puppets, toy ocean animals, puzzles, and lots of happy noise. Then there’s silent awe at the Legacy of the Loggerhead sea turtle exhibit’s short video filmed on Ocean Isle Beach about the life cycle of the loggerhead turtle that includes a mother turtle laying eggs and the hatchlings crawling to the sea.

In the Coastal Plain, visitors exclaim “Wow!” when they see the American bald eagle up close and eye-to-eye. Identify the shorebirds you saw on Brunswick beaches. Children like to pretend they are a coyote or a bear with the pelts thrown over their shoulders. Fisherman are heard to exclaim that they learned to fish with a bamboo rod just like the one in the antique fishing equipment exhibit.

A visit to the Museum of Coastal Carolina is a treat for the young and the young at heart. Many vacationers include it as a multi-generational activity for the whole family. Local residents know that it is one of Brunswick County’s best family activities.

Summer afternoon family programs are held at 3:30 p.m. on Monday—Friday from June 14 through August 20. The programs include Know Your Knots on Monday, “What Kinda Fish Is That, Mister?” on Tuesday, Seven Steps to Shoreline Safety & the Firetruck on Wednesday, Megabites! on Thursday, and Touch Tank Feeding and Shell ID on Friday.

Evening programs are Ghost Lore and Legend Walk on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Snakes Alive! on Thursday at 7 p.m. Come early to tour the Museum before the program. Family vacation passes with unlimited Museum visits for one week are available for $49. (Family vacation passes are for a family that resides together year-round, not multi-generational families vacationing together. The Plus membership may be a better value for multi-generational families.) Annual memberships are also available.

The Museum of Coastal Carolina is located at 21 East Second Street, Ocean Isle Beach beside the playground and just a block from the beach and the pier. Enjoy coastal natural history . . . for the fun of it! Summer hours are June 1—September 4 on Monday, Tuesday, Friday & Saturday from 10—5, Wednesday and Thursday from 10—8:30 and closed Sunday. All-day admission includes programs. $8 for adults, $6 for senior adults 60 & over, $6 students K-12 & College ID, and $4 Preschool ages 3-5, Ages 2 & under are free. Check www.museumofcc.org or call 910.579.1016 for further information.
For educational and entertaining gifts and toys, visit Nature’s Treasures Gift Shop at the Museum or Galaxy Gifts at the Planetarium.

Spend An Unforgettable Day!

Come to the beach and take in some history at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson Historic Site and Orton Plantation. Read more