The Holiday Express at Pullen Park will be running December 6th-8th & 13th-15th. Advanced tickets are on sale and sell out early so get your tickets now.

 

 

 Saturday is National Fossil Day at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Normally an annual weekeday event, this year's event goeas all out with dozens of displays, activities and presentations by paleontologists from North Carolina and around the world.

 

There will also be a Coin and Stamp Show at the Fairgrounds this weekend.

 

Decorate your home for the holidays and find fabulous gifts for friends, including ornaments, gourd bird houses, jewelry, stationery, knitted goods and nature-focused gifts at Saturday's Garden Guild Holiday Craft Sale at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

 

The Ice Factory opens for the season on Friday at American Tobacco Campus. $10 pays for both admission and skate rental at Durham's Outdoor Ice Rink.

 

Its time for the annual Cornmeal Cooking Contest at Yates Mill Historic Park. Start baking an bring an entry to the park Sunday for judging. There will be categories for kids and adults and prizes awarded.

 

Sort through some Turkey facts and fiction, learn about turkeys' cool adaptations, practice your turkey call, then eat a turkey-inspired treat on Sunday afternoon at Crowder District County Park.

 

 

Historic Yates Mill County Park also invites you to join them after dark Friday. Learn how nocturnal animals get ready for winter on a Fall Family Hike.

 

Are you ready to start that holiday shopping? Drop the kids off at Walnut Creek Wetlands Center Friday evening for Kid's Nature Night. They"ll learn about nature, go for a short walk, play games, do a craft and watch a movie on that night's featured theme. Come back Saturday to learn about Wetland Birds.

 

Join a Jordan Lake Ranger Saturday morning for a Canoe Paddle around Robeson Creek and parts of the Haw River. Saturday afternoon you can also take a Nature Hike along the Old Oak Trail. Educators are invited to the park Saturday for a Project Wild Workshop. Participants receive the Project Wild K-12 educator guide along with materials specifically about North Carolina wildlife.

 

Step back into history with Volunteer Docent as you explore the Historic Piper Cox House Saturday afternoon at Eno River State Park.

 

Come to Umstead State Park Saturday to learn about the Animals that call the Park home and to discover some strategies for attracting Birds to your backyard. On Tuesday, they will present a program on Coyotes.

 

Leave your GPS at home and learn how to find your way using only a compass and a map. Intermediate Orienteering on Saturday at Lake Crabtree County Park will cover the basics of orienteering, including reading bearings and calculating your stride. Come back Sunday and learn to Sing Like a Frog.

 

Kids of all ages Get Crafty Saturday at Crowder District Park when they create some Fall Forest Fun.

 

It`s 1863 at Yates Mill this weekend, and the yard is alive with activity! Step back in time and take a half-hour tour with their 19th century costumed interpreters and watch the millstones at work Grinding Corn into meal. Also, stop by Saturday to learn about the history of the United States Postal Service and the postage stamp. You will even have an opportunity to write a thank you letter to a U.S. veteran. Enjoy the amazing fall color at the park on a guided Fall Garden Tour and learn what might thrive in your garden.

 

Have you ridden the Mountain Bike Trails at Harris Lake County Park? They are looking for volunteers Saturday to help maintain the trails on a Mountain Bike Workday.

 

 

Author Bernie Harberts will be speaking, on Saturday at Duke Homestead, about his four month, 600 mile journey from the North Carolina Coast to the Great Smokey Mountains by mule.

 

Shake off the cold temperatures at the Holly Springs Cultural Center Monday morning with their Family Movie, Up.

 

Historic Preservation Society of Durham docents will lead a Civil Rights Legacy Walking Tour focusing on sites in downtown Durham that were important in the 1950's and 60's Civil Rights movement Saturday.

 

Walk through the lives of enslaved persons as told in their own words on Sunday afternoon at the North Carolina Museum of History for Was I Born for This? North Carolina Slave Voices.

 

Join Harris Lake County Park staff Tuesday evening for their new adult series, Natural Reads, a nature book club. Each month they'll discuss a book that deals with nature and the environment.

 

Bring the whole family for a night of play for just $2 per person this Tuesday night at Marbles Kids Museum.

 

Author Nancy Peacock will read from her novel, The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson on Wednesday night at the Burwell School Historic Site.

 

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences hosts a lecture on The Force of Admiration: Alfred Russel Wallace on the Evolutionary Trail Wednesday evening.