We welcome all our new ParkGeek subscribers! It was great meeting you at Darwin Days and I hope this weekly newsletter makes planning your weekends with your family and friends a breeze.

For more info on everything going on, go to www.Parkgeek.com click on "Event Search" and fill in the dates. Be sure to include Friday through Sunday so you don't miss anything. Select the search button and start planning! See below for more...

 

 

Howl at the moon! The North Carolina Museum of Art kicks off the return of their themed Friday nights with a funky Full Moon Party featuring Peter Lamb and the Wolves. This local jazz quintet blends eclectic melodies and sounds from around the world with a New Orleans groove that you can dance to. Click through for the special menu prepared just for the evening. While you are there, join Art in the Evening for a screening of the 1949 flick Criss Cross with Burt Lancaster.

Join Sacred Heart Cathedral and the Raleigh City Museum to hear essays about Black History Month written by Cathedral School students and for a half hour performance by the Sacred Heart Cathedral Gospel Choir.

There is a lot going on at Marbles Kids Museum this weekend. All events are included with your museum admission. On Saturday, Raleigh Little Theatre will be at the Museum for two special sneak previews of their production of Really Rosie and Home Depot will bring a project for kids to build. On Sunday, you can enjoy the tales spun by the Tarheel Tale Tellers, join the The Engineering Place for Gadgets & Gizmos and help create handmade blankets for children in need with Wake County's Project Linus.

Explore the lives and accomplishments of North Carolina African Americans from the antebellum period to the Civil Rights era with a guided African American History Tour and a Hands on History program at the The North Carolina Museum of History.

Pop some popcorn and bring the family over to the Holly Springs Cultural Center Saturday for the heartwarming movie, Despicable Me.

 

 

Wake County's Annual Library Book Sale is going big time this year with its new location at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds starting Thursday. Book prices range from $1 - 4 each, with cost decreases each day and on the final day books are $5.00 per box or $2.00 per bag.

If there is a horse lover in your family, then you might want to check out the Hunter Jumper Horse Show this weekend. The event is very casual so spectators can just come and go. The bonus with the atmosphere is that you can sit right up front and have a great view of the horses and their riders.

 

 

This weekend celebrates the Annual Great Backyard Bird Count. A national four day event that encourages bird watchers to count birds and report their results online to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The Bird Count is a featured event at several parks around the Triangle. Some of the events do require registration so click through for all the details. Lake Crabtree County Park joins in the fun with Great Backyard Bird Count Walks and a Bird Bazaar that will include a variety of fun activities related to birdwatching. Come join them at Durant Nature Park. They'll start by counting the birds at Durant then give you all the information you need to go home and count the birds in your own backyard. Harris Lake County Park will also be hosting walks daily through the weekend and Birdapalooza which will feature games, bird activities, and crafts.

Are you new to the area or maybe have never taken the time to familiarize yourself with the NC State Park System? A Park Ranger will give a presentation at William B. Umstead State Park introducing you to the magic of our 38 state parks. Umstead Park also invites you to Join a Park Ranger to learn how to read a map and use a compass during Basic Land Navigation.

Come, learn about Occoneechee Mountain's Evergreens on a guided hike.

Eno River State Park invites you to to join them for some Birdwatching.

Talk to the owls as you take a Moonlit Stroll through the winter woods looking and listening for these magnificent nocturnal raptors on the American Tobacco Trail.

Join a naturalist at Prairie Ridge Ecostation for Wildlife Learning to explore the Seasons at Prairie Ridge as you visit the prairie, pond and lowland. On a winter walk, hunt for amphibians, birds and mammals and their signs. Explore how plants make it through the winter.

 

 

The Natural Science Center of Greensboro is a great day trip outside the Triangle. With everything from a zoo with a great array of animals, kids imagination areas, dinosaurs, interactive science exhibits and fun science shows, the Natural Science Center of Greensboro has something fun and interesting for all age groups. This weekend is even better because they will be celebrating Seafest. Their annual celebration of the sea is sponsored by Mahi's Seafood Restaurant and will feature "Strange Seafood Tasting," face painting, sea stories and sea creature crafts. Sea Cove will also be open all day for a hands-on experience with exotic marine creatures, including horseshoe crabs, sea stars, sea urchins and snails in their 300 gallon touch tank.