Fun For Dudes, Both Kids and Bigs, in Charlotte

You don't have to be a stay-at-home dad to enjoy some time out with your little dudes and dudettes. It helps, sure, but you don't have to. Here are some of the places we love to take the little dudes when we load up and head out without the older distaff member of the family. Don't tell her I said she was older.

1. Riverbanks Zoo and Garden

500 Wildlife Parkway
Columbia, South Carolina

reviewed on: January 26 2010

"Zoo Crew"

The Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC, is one of the best zoos i've ever visited. It's right up there with the Fort Worth, TX, zoo for fun, naturalistic animal enclosures and breadth of animals available for viewing.

The zoo is well designed, allowing little dudes and families to walk through most of it without dropping from exhaustion. We love lemur island.

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2. Carowinds

Avenue of the Carolinas
Charlotte, North Carolina

reviewed on: January 26 2010

"Thrills, Not Themes"

Charlotte, NC's Carowinds thrill park is a fantastic little trip for anyone in the area. Located on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina, the park is filled to the brim with thrilling rides for all ages. As opposed to Disney World, which is all about the theme, Carowinds is all about the thrill.

The one major complaint about the park is that, especially compared to Disney, the place looks a bit run down and not as clean.

Still, all the roller coasters, for little dudes ages 6-ish and up, well, that makes up for it. The water park is a lot of fun as well.

It's a great day trip.

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3. Park Road Park

6220 Park Road
Charlotte, North Carolina

reviewed on: January 31 2010

"Get In The Park"

Charlotte, like some other cities around the country, has a great history and present of having great parks. The times I've been with my little dudes here to Park Road Park have been great. The park has great play areas for the little dudes as well as attractions for my older teen dudes. This is only one of Charlotte's parks. No matter where you live, you're probably close to one, either a small, neighborhood park or a large, megapark, like this one and Freedom Park.

For more information and a list of activities, go to their website at http://www.parkandrec.org.

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4. Discovery Place

301 N. Tryon St.
Charlotte, North Carolina

reviewed on: January 31 2010

"Discover Greatness"

If you've got younger dudes in the family, you need to get over to Discovery Place in uptown Charlotte. It's a blast for families young and old. This is hands-on science, the kind of science that excites kids and propels them toward learning even more. I can't tell you the number of times my three little dudes and I have come home from Discovery Place and immediately hit the internet or library to learn more about a subject.

In addition to the permanent exhibits, Discovery Place also hosts a number of traveling exhibits for shorter periods of time. For instance, January-April of this year will see CSI: Crime Scene Insects making Discovery Place its home. Kids will get to learn about human decomposition and how the life cycle of certain insects can fit into that and help solve crimes.

In addition to a relatively nice cafe, Discovery Place also hosts an IMAX theater usually showing three to four nature documentaries. The underwater films are especially awe-inspiring on the huge IMAX screen.

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