Starting next week, a lot of you will be getting to spend more quality family time together. Parents often take time off from work over the holidays — either by choice or by employer mandate — the kids enter that glorious time known as winter break. Together, it adds up to more time to do ______ together.
This weekend, avoid alligators, avoid trails, but don’t avoid the first big weekend of the Southeast ski season.
Coast
Remember the old Peter, Paul & Mary hit, “Where Have All the Reptiles Gone?” No, wait. That wasn’t PP&M in the 1960s. That’s Lake Waccamaw State Park this Sunday at 2 p.m., when a ranger explains why the park’s alligators are no longer on the prowl, why the turtles aren’t out catching some rays … basically why the entire reptile population is laying low. A great opportunity to learn a little something, then take a long (Lakeshore Trail, 5 miles) or short (Sand Ridge Trail, 0.75 mile) hike to look for the reptiles that aren’t supposed to be there.
An intro to climbing class is less about learning how to climb than it is about learning how to fall. Or rather, how not to fall — and if you do (and you will), how to fall without bone-breaking repercussions. That’s a good thing because once you’re assured that it’s OK to fall, that you won’t break your skull should you part with the wall, your confidence — a key element of climbing — will carry you to new heights. Literally.
The weekend gets off to and early start (today) with the six-day Wings Over Water at the coast.
Coast
If you’ve ever thought about doing just about any kind of exploring at the coast — from birdwatching to paddling a swamp to howling with (or for) wolves, here’s your chance. The 15-year-old Wings Over Water, a six-day celebration of any thing and any place wild in eastern North Carolina, gets underway today. More than 85 programs explore the wildlife and natural history of the coast. Some by foot, some by boat, some with binos. Truly, just about any natural adventure you’d like to have.
I wrote the following story for the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh; it appeared in both newspapers on Sept. 20, 2011. It appears here in expanded form, with links. Check out yesterday’s post for a first-hand account of the CXWORX class.