I love looking at Our State magazine and watching shows about all the out of the way secret adventures in North Carolina. The Tarheel Traveler on WRAL is one of my favorite spots to catch, and not just because of Bill's lovely guitar lick on the introduction. UNC-TV also has great shows on the out of the way, easy to over look, quaint, and very cool things to do in North Carolina.
In sitting in front of one of these, I found myself mooning over the New Hope Valley Railway. It's just a 30 minute drive from our home near North Hills, and was tons of fun for a two year old boy. That of course translates into tons of fun for the whole family.
The railway runs the first Sunday of every month. It's the only open air railway in the state. I knew I was taking a chance by booking tickets for July, but I lucked out and was granted one of the last bearable outdoor days we have here in North Carolina.
There is a railway museum, a hot dog vendor (or maybe it was BBQ), some porta-potties, and usually some lovely small town live music in the gazebo. It's just a nice day all around. We caught the 11:00 AM train, which was the diesel engine. Papa, who had read every single sign we passed on the trip over, was happy to have something to complain about, seeing as he would have preferred the steam engine. The railway switches engines every hour.
There were lots of smiling engineers who waved at all of the children, not in the creepy zombie like Thomas the train way, but in an actual personable fashion.
I know it's last minute for the next ride, but it's probably too stinking hot to go this weekend anyway. September and October though, would be perfect months. If you've got little ones who love trains or love the outdoors, it's a great Sunday excursion.
An original Triangle Mamas post. This was not a sponsored post. Marty is not a reviewer and makes no apologies for the lack of detailed information in this post. She did bother to link to things, so there is that. You can find more of her vague and sporadic writing on her personal blog, Don't Take the Repeats. You can also follow her on Twitter, where her brevity is appreciated, or heck, just go ahead and friend her on Facebook. Y'all come back now, ya' hear?
Recent Comments