Summer officially arrived at 6:06 a.m. Thursday, but it sent an advance team early in the week: temperatures in the mid-90s. Thus, our focus for the weekend is wet and wild. Or at least wet.
Some events on tap that will keep you close to water:
Firefly Viewing, New River State Park, Laurel Springs. Saturday, 9 p.m. Double your chances of staying cool by not only being near water, but exploring at night as well. Details here.
We’ve got another hot summer weekend on tap. Some options: spend it on a barrier island checking out the horse scene; take a run through the cool(er) night; paddle a mountain river.
Coast / coastal plain
One of the reasons you love to head into the wild is the opportunity to see wildlife. For a lot of us, the bigger the wildlife the better. Swimmers at the coast love the opportunity to be near dolphins, scuba divers savor a shark encounter, hikers live for a bear sighting. And when it comes to exploring the Cape Lookout National Seashore, it’s the wild horses that inhabit the island that draw our attention.
We’re staring down the first steamy weekend of the summer. Frankly, I’m hard pressed to think of something to do outdoors that doesn’t involve water.
There’s swimming, of course. At your local pool (search for local parks and rec departments with pools at the North Carolina Recreation & Parks Association Web site), at a trusted swimming hole (find 76 in North Carolina at SwimmingHoles.org), at the coast (find Outer Banks beaches here, Wilmington area beaches here and assorted other beaches here.