The Perfect Day Trip for Littles Awaits in Historic Rutherfordton, NC!

Ready to plan a day trip to Rutherfordton, NC? When you are raising little ones, sometimes the best thing you can do is just get out of the house! But where to go? Let us help! Kidding Around’s Sarah enjoys visiting Rutherfordton and she made this perfect day trip itinerary for families! Check out this plan for the perfect day trip for little ones around Rutherfordton, conveniently located in the heart of Western North Carolina.

Whether you are coming from Western North Carolina or Upstate South Carolina, you can expect Rutherfordton to be no more than 1-2 hours from your home! This makes it the perfect driving distance for a day trip for families from so many urban areas such as Charlotte and Asheville in North Carolina or Greenville and Spartanburg in South Carolina.

Start Your Day with KidSenses Children’s Museum

KidSenses Children’s Museum is the perfect place for curious kids to spend their morning! It is open on Tuesday through Saturday starting at 9 am, and arriving right at opening ensures the best possible experience for your kids.

2-hour parking is available directly outside the front door, but if you know your kids will be up for playing longer, plan to use the public parking lot directly behind the museum. Both parking options are 100% free!

Admission is $8 per person aged 1 year and older.

With 2 floors of fun for kids from birth to 10 years old, plus a special exhibit just for children ages 4 years and younger, you are sure to find this museum an ideal adventure for your littlest family members! Expect each floor to take 2 hours or more to fully explore, and consider limiting your visit to one floor if you know your kids will tire out before they make it the whole way through.

There are exhibits sure to engage every child’s personality! There is an interactive fire station for your determined hero, a veterinary hospital for your animal- lover, a grocery store, and restaurant for your budding chef, a green screen and stage for your performer, and so much more.

When you are ready to wrap up, make sure your kids use the restroom before you leave! There is a family restroom down the hall from the Bubble-Ology exhibit downstairs and two multi-stall restrooms in the center of the main floor upstairs.

Break for Lunch at Main Street Market

Main Street and the surrounding area are packed with locally owned, family-friendly options where you can eat with your kids! If you’re feeling spontaneous, just set out from the museum and look into the restaurants you pass as you explore downtown. If you want something quick and easy, though, we recommend Main Street Market!

You will be able to spot the sign for this deli as you come out the door from KidSenses. It is across the street and just a few doors up the hill from there! They are open Monday through Saturday starting at 11 am, so they’ll be ready to welcome you whether you spend just a couple of hours at the museum or linger longer!

When you walk into Main Street Market, you’ll find menu cards on the tables directly inside the front door. Select from one of their standard subs and salads, or customize a sub precisely to the liking of your pickiest eater! Then seat yourself with no wait, and trust the friendly servers to take care of you and your kids from there!

Find more dining options! 3 Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Rutherfordton, NC

When you’re done, and if your kids are up for it, consider swinging by Main Street Coffee & Ice Cream right next door, too, for a delicious dessert to top off your meal!

Get Outside at Kiwanis Park

If you’re up for a stroll, Kiwanis Park is about a 10-minute walk from both KidSenses Children’s Museum and Main Street Market. Just follow Main Street up the hill and then back down until you come to Green Street, where you’ll turn right to see the park. If you prefer to drive, then it takes less than 2 minutes to get there!

Park in the spots available along Green Street, and head straight to the white building by the parking area. Here, you’ll find more restrooms, water fountains, a detailed town map, and a community bulletin board with details on any special events that could be happening today!

Consider bringing tricycles, bicycles, or other fun things with wheels, because this will be the time to get them out of the car! Kiwanis Park has the perfect paved path for these activities, with a completely level loop around a greenspace just past the welcome building, and a slightly hillier loop encircling the playground up ahead.

Cross one of the scenic bridges over Cleghorn Creek to get to the double-decker playground, and be sure to keep a close eye on your kids as you get near the water! This playground features two slides, a low and a high climbing wall, a short in-ground tunnel, balance beams, stepping logs, and just a few swings.

You can follow your little ones around as they explore, or find a comfortable spot on one of the available benches or rock features. Just keep in mind that the climbing walls do create something of a blind spot when supervising your children on the playground if you’re not up and moving with them!

Energy Leftover? Walk the Purple Martin Greenway!

Kiwanis Park is also the perfect starting place to enter the Purple Martin Greenway, a nearly 3-mile paved trail that follows Cleghorn Creek and runs roughly parallel to Main Street. The full length of it does cross several busy intersections, so you may only want to walk a small portion with your little ones.

Grab a pamphlet on the Overmountain Victory Trail before leaving Kiwanis Park to learn the fascinating history of this greenway during the Revolutionary War! Try to imagine what the area might have looked like for those farmers, hunters, and soldiers over 200 years ago!

Signage and locals do encourage using the buddy system on the Purple Martin Greenway, so consider bringing another family along if this is a place you might like to explore further.

There are lots more parks to explore in Rutherfordton if you’re looking for more to do! Check them out: City Parks in Rutherfordton, NC.

Tips for Making Connections on the Trip

One of the things that can make a day trip TRULY great is the way it draws you closer to your kids, your kids closer to you, and you all closer to your potential. If you want even more ways to enrich your trip to Rutherfordton, consider incorporating any of these suggestions into your experience with your children:

• On your drive to the museum, ask your kids what they want to be when they grow up! If they don’t know, give them some ideas. Ask what they might like or dislike about each possible job. Share different things you wanted to be when you were a kid.
• After you leave the museum, ask your kids to recall what kinds of jobs they got to explore there. What did they like or dislike about each job? Did they have a favorite? Talk about ways you might be able to explore those interests more at home.
• On your way to lunch, ask your kids to imagine what kinds of foods could be at the restaurant! They might suggest some of their favorites, and you can generate some fun by suggesting some crazy foods they could be cooking up in the kitchen!
• While at lunch, ask your kids to describe what they are eating! Let them try to put into words what they liked or didn’t like about the different flavors. Talk about how the different foods might affect their energy as you go somewhere to play next!
• On your way to the park, ask your kids to practice using their 5 senses! What do they see, hear, smell, taste, and feel? Can you point out specific things for them to try to recognize with each sense?
• While at the park, ask your kids to use their senses as they explore! Have them bring you something pretty, something noisy, something scented, and something that feels interesting to them—and then reward them with a snack!
• On your way home, enjoy the memories! Talk with each other about your favorite moments from the day. Share something new and wonderful that you saw in each child as they explored.
• Once you get home, share your experience with loved ones! Look through any pictures or videos together. Plan another time to go again, this time with people who haven’t been yet. Ask your kids what they would want to do if they could go back.