KidSenses: Just an Hour from the Upstate

For Fall break this year, my family decided to head up to western North Carolina for a day of fun. While we were up there, we stopped in Rutherfordton, NC (one hour and a half from Greenville and under and hour from Spartanburg) to see the children’s museum KidSenses. I had heard other local parents tell me that it was a popular day trip destination from the Greenville/Spartanburg area and I wanted to see it for myself.

Review of KidSenses in Rutherfordton, NC

What Is KidSenses?

KidSenses is an interactive children’s museum with 16 exhibits. While at first glance the museum might look small from the outside, the space is packed with fun things to do for all ages of children.

Some of our favorite exhibits were:

Kid’s Pueblito – This Mexican diner was my daughter’s favorite exhibit. The space was bright and cleverly decorated with everything from small tables to food prep and beverage stations.

Zap Theatre! – My son said that the Zap Theatre! was his top choice and I agree that it was an unique experience hearing and watching a Musical Bi-Polar Tesla Coil play music. This particular exhibit has select showtimes so be sure to ask ahead of time for the schedule.

Alphabet Trail – My children were too old for this section of the museum reserved for ages 4 and under but I still peeked in to see what it looked like. The space had ample room to play, imaginary areas, and couch (perfect for feeding a baby or resting while the kids play). The area was completely closed off by a door and the museum staff assured me that they enforce the age limits. I would have happily retreated to this quiet corner back when my kids were smaller.

Bubble-Ology – This room was perhaps one of the most unusual exhibits at the museum. In it, kids could create all sorts of bubbles including a contraption that allowed you to stand inside a giant bubble.

HealthWise – This particular exhibit is not open at all times, but if you are lucky enough to catch it when it’s open you should definitely check it out. Inside, kids could don lab coats, goggles, and gloves to perform science experiments. If you have a child that is always wanting to mix everything in your kitchen cabinets to see what happens, this is the perfect place to let them experiment without the mess.

Lights! Camera! Action! – This exhibit included a full stage, complete with curtains, costumes, and a puppet theatre.

WFUN Studios – My kids enjoyed pretending to be newscasters in this mini studio that had everything from a working camera to a news desk and green screen. This exhibit is best enjoyed with two or more people as one person can pretend to report while the other person can control the background.

PetSenses – In this area, kids could grab a stuffed pet, groom it, weigh it, and even check the pet for ID chips.

In addition, there was also a mini grocery store, firetruck, art room, and more. With 16 exhibit areas, there was plenty for my children to explore.

Tips for Visiting KidSenses

We would recommend calling ahead of time to ensure that you aren’t visiting at the same time as a school trip.

There are only a couple options for dining in Rutherfordton, so pack a lunch or ask at the desk for a couple recommendations. There is however, a great ice cream and coffee shop right across the street.

We saw plenty of street parking on the day we visited.

My kids are old enough where I wasn’t worried about “losing” them, but some other parents told me that they did feel like they had to watch their children closely due to the fact that you could quickly scale a climber in the middle of the museum to get from one floor to another. The museum was pretty contained though with only one entrance. There is a back door but it has an alarm. Overall, I think that due to the smaller size, it would be easier to watch small kids than other similar museums.

KidSenses is in the process of adding a new division for youth ages 11 and up called The Factory. It will be located right behind KidSenses in a separate building. We still don’t have a date on when this new hands-on maker space will open, but it will certainly be a great addition for families with older kids.

Basic Information

KidSenses is located at:

172 N. Main St.
Rutherfordton, NC 28139

You can call them at 828-286-2120.

They are closed Sundays and Mondays. Tuesdays-Saturdays they are open from 9-5.

Admission is $8/person (children & adults)

Have you been to KidSenses? We would love to hear what you think.

Atlanta’s LEGOLAND – A Must See!

Local mom Andrea Beam shares her family’s experience at LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Atlanta. Read her review! For more travel options near the Upstate, be sure to consult our Travel Near Greenville page.

My son decided he wanted to have his birthday dinner at Hard Rock Café in Atlanta. What 11 year old does that? Hey, it was cheaper than most venues, so count me in! We decided to turn it into an overnight trip and check out LEGOLAND Discovery Center while there. The overnight stay was an added bonus for our family, but LEGOLAND is completely doable as a day-trip.

I visited Trip Advisor and several other sites and found mixed reviews. I had no idea what to expect.

LEGOLAND is located at Phipps Plaza. I plugged the address into my Google GPS and had no problem. Driving through Atlanta is never high on my “To Do” list, but we survived. You’ll want to avoid morning rush hour traffic. If you don’t, pack a picnic because you’ll be eating lunch on 85!

We parked on the upper parking deck of the mall and entered through the door of one of the department stores. LEGO Land is located in the middle of the mall on the third floor. It doesn’t matter which door you use. Take the escalators. If your kids are anything like ours, they’ll enjoy this as much as the rides inside the building. Doors open at 10 am.

What to expect

The lines were well organized. Once you pay and walk through the front door, you’re pretty much on your own. Pick up a brochure/map at the entrance. There is SO MUCH to see! Most everything is interactive and hands on.

Space Mission is the newest addition and was a BIG hit with our crew. There are stations for the littles (and not-so littles) to build spaceships and a “control center” where they can fly their own ship. None of those compare to the space ship that actually launches every five minutes, complete with smoke and a countdown! I caught this magic on video. The boys have watched it multiple times.

Mini Land was really cool. While it’s not hands-on, we had fun looking at the replicas of the historical places around Atlanta. I had to keep reminding myself that everything is actually built out of LEGOS. It’s unreal.

Duplo Village is the perfect destination for the smallest visitors. There is a play zone as well as soft/hard blocks. Because my kids are older, we didn’t spend time here, but I poked my head in to see what it was about. Everything looked clean and kids were having a good time.

4D Cinema offers multiple movies featuring your favorite LEGO characters! Photos/videos are not allowed during the movie. This is unfortunate because the smiles on our kids’ faces were priceless. They LOVED getting wet! Oops… I hope I didn’t give anything away!

Rides are located inside LEGOLAND. I can’t tell you how impressed I was with the Merlin’s Apprentice. For a brief moment, I felt like I was at Disney World. Okay, that may be a stretch, but it was super cute. At one point a few of the adults were on the ride with NO children. To protect the identity of the guilty (or pitiful) I won’t list names.

Your kiddos will love the Build & Test area. This is the spot where you build your own car to race down the ramps.

If you asked our kids to tell you their favorite thing about LEGOLAND, Pirate Adventure Island would be the unanimous choice. You could easily spend half a day in this play area. There is a huge water table, a slide and several climbing sections. This area reminded me of The Children’s Museum of the Upstate.

One of the biggest complaints in the online reviews was how expensive the food is in the Café. There is another option – a Food Court right outside the entrance and we ate there. An employee, stationed at the exit, will stamp your hand for reentry. There is not an extensive selection of restaurants to choose from but it’s certainly the best option. There is a Moe’s and everyone loves Moe’s, right?!

Before you hit the road, click here to purchase your tickets. You’ll pay more at the door.

Plan your own trip to LEGO Land

LEGOLAND® Discovery Center
3500 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30326
404.848.9252

Monday – Friday, 10 am – 7 pm (last entry 5 pm)
Saturday, 10 am – 9 pm (last entry 7 pm)
Sunday, 10 am – 7 pm (last entry 5 pm)

Visit their website.
Follow LEGOLAND on Facebook.

Online tickets start at $12.50 (prices may vary by time and date).

Has your family ever visited LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Atlanta?

Meet Andrea Beam

Andrea Beam works for the Greenville County School System, but her passion is writing! Greenville has always been her home. Her family enjoys exploring everything the town has to offer. In addition to Kidding Around Greenville, she blogs at Sunshine & Rain.

Piney Mountain Bike Lounge Has a Pump Track Out Back

Local mom Liene reviews Piney Mountain Bike Lounge in Greenville, SC. This unique bicycle shop and taproom should be on your summer bucket list!

There is one spot that definitely needs to be on your bucket list this summer if you live in Greenville and have kids who enjoy riding bikes – Piney Mountain Bike Lounge!

Piney Mountain Bike Lounge is a cross between a bicycle shop and a taproom, complete with a pump track out back! Located between downtown and Paris Mountain, the Lounge caters to mountain bikers on their way to and from the mountains. It has also become a gathering spot for the local community to come together and share their love for riding – or share their love for craft beer while their kids are busy wearing themselves out on the dirt bike course!

Why we love Piney Mountain Bike Lounge

Our most recent visit was a weekday. The boys were all still running full steam, wearing on my last nerve. We still had several hours of daylight, and so we loaded up three kids, three bikes and three helmets and headed to Piney Mountain Road.

Although the exterior looks much like it did when it was the Landscapers Supply, the interior has been completely revamped. On one side is the bar, serving up craft beer alongside what is the bicycle repair space. On the other side is a lounge, complete with couches, a foosball table and handlebars in the place of mounted trophies. The center is filled with all the latest cycling gear and bicycles, trail maps on the walls of favorite dirt biking destinations in the area. Finally, in the back you’ll find the former loading dock, converted to outdoor patio. Full of picnic tables, the space overlooks the pump track, a small, looping trail system that you can ideally ride continuously without pedaling.

Since their grand opening in March, Piney Mountain has settled in with a rotation of food trucks to make the Lounge truly a one-stop evening hot-spot. Including Upstate favorites such as Automatic Taco, Ellada Kouzina and Chuck Truck, for the current schedule check the website or follow Piney Mountain Bike Lounge on Facebook. For the beer enthusiasts, a list of the 14 regional and local craft beers on tap can be found here. The pump track is closed when it’s wet for safety reasons as well as to protect the track, and a waiver must be signed before use. Usually one of us will take the boys & bikes around to the track and get them set up, while the other orders food and beer and gets settled in at one of the tables by the track – then it’s just a matter of shouting out a few encouraging words to keep them circling the track while we enjoy our meal.

Piney Mountain offers a variety of tune-up and service options as well as a demo option if you’re looking to buy a bicycle but not quite ready to commit. For those with kids in middle or high school that might be interested in a mountain biking team, NICA (the National Interscholastic Cycling association) is coming to Greenville and often meets with Piney Mountain – check out Upstate Composite on Facebook for more info.

When it comes down to it, I’m really more of a Swamp Rabbit Trail gal than a Paris Mountain cyclist, but Piney Mountain is a great addition to the cycling scene in the Upstate. Whether you’re looking to get your bike ready for the season, catch up with friends after a day at Paris Mountain, or just ‘cycle’ through some of that energy in the kids on these long days, make sure to swing by the Lounge this summer!

Plan your own trip to Piney Mountain Bike Lounge

20 Piney Mountain Road, Greenville
864.603.2453

For more information about Piney Mountain Bike Lounge visit their website. They can also be found on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook

See Liene’s original post on her blog, Femme au Foyer, here.

Does your family love to bike together? Don’t miss our list of places to ride your bike in Greenville.

Would your family love Piney Mountain Bike Lounge as much as mine does?

Meet Liene

Mother of three young boys, Liene is constantly on the move since returning to Greenville in 2012. Whether she’s exploring the state parks and natural areas of the Carolinas or teaming up with other moms to organize activities for the kids, she’s always searching for the next adventure in the Upstate. For everything from hiking, travel, cooking and crafts to multicultural & global education posts, visit her blog, Femme au Foyer.

Don’t Miss Fort Moultrie on Your Next Trip to Charleston

Local mom Jackie Vest shares her experience touring Fort Moultrie on her trip to Charleston. See our Charleston page for even more suggestions of things to do and places to eat in Charleston, SC. We even have a 2-3 day itinerary for Charleston, SC!

A visit to Sullivan’s Island is not complete without a tour of Fort Moultrie, and with just a few dollars needed to get through the gate, you’ve got to put it on your Charleston Bucket List. This one location tells the tales of defending our soil from our nation’s earliest history through World War II. The visitor center holds many artifacts, educational bits, souvenirs, books, and useful information before you head across the street to the fort.

To an adult, this fort serves as a gateway back in time, beginning with the most recent historical use of the fort and progressing further and further back in history as you progress through the walls and tunnels. To a child, this is an ocean-view maze peppered with massive cannons, enticing them to run the whole place over in a matter of about an hour. Both parties will leave feeling like the afternoon was well-spent.

A bit of history…

The fort’s earliest battles were in defending young America from British warships in 1776. The original fort was built of palmetto logs and inspired the nickname and flag of our Palmetto State. It remained in use from that year until 1947! The fortifying walls speak of seacoast defense for the entire life of our nation. It has seen everything from pirates, to the British, from Civil War battles, to support in the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, and everything in between. It was decommissioned in 1947 when new technologies outdated seacoast defense.

Plan your own trip to Fort Moultrie

Visit the website here.

1214 Middle Street
Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482
(843) 883-3123

Open Daily from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Have you ever visited Fort Moutrie?

Meet Jackie

Jackie Vest is a writer and at-home-mom of two energetic little boys. She enjoys adventuring around the beautiful Upstate, the hilarity of kiddo-raising, outdoor fitness with friends, and her Favorite 5 C’s: cooking, crafting, camping, coffee, and chocolate. You can connect with her via her blog at: JackieVest.com.

Mom Review: The Old Exchange in Charleston

Local mom Jackie Vest shares her experience taking her children to The Old Exchange in Charleston, SC.

The Old Exchange is touted as a “must-see” when visiting downtown Charleston. Located right on the water, it is a historical gem of both the Colonial and Revolutionary eras – being at times a Revolutionary-era prison, a place where George Washington visited, a post where slaves were sold, a building for 18th Century assemblies, a platform for trade and business, a dungeon for pirates, and the place from which South Carolina’s delegates ratified the Constitution.

There is more history here than can be absorbed. Visitors are welcome to wander around before and after tours, take a guided tour, and even sign the Constitution!

Our Time at The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon (aka The Custom House)

Below the building is a huge brick dungeon complete with full-size pirate figures, gun powder kegs, and more. The only thing my boys loved more than that awesome dungeon was standing in the great hall where our delegates once stood and signing their names on the Declaration of Independence! The tours are very informative, yet can be a bit lengthy for toddlers – bring diversions. The whole building itself is a mystery as so many things took place upon that foundation, it is incredibly fascinating! Of course, we couldn’t leave without visiting the gift shop, my boys are now the proud owners of gunpowder holders made from cow horns and leather.

Plan Your Trip to The Old Exchange

Open every day of the week 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

122 East Bay Street
Charleston, SC 29401

(843) 727-2165
(888) 763-0448

Visit the website here.
Plan to spend 1-3 hours here depending on your kids.

Would your kids love a visit to The Old Exchange?

Meet Jackie

Saving Money on Vacation Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Have Fun

Whether it’s the beach or the mountains, the city or the country, many families take their vacation time during the summer. School is out and it’s the perfect time to get away together for a week (or more!). But someone’s gotta pay for it and planning for the costs ahead of the time can help to reduce the stress and increase the relaxation. But even if you didn’t think ahead, there is still time to enjoy a break. ~Kristina Hernandez

Thank you to Parent Financial for sponsoring this content. To learn about planning for your own family’s financial future and getting your budget on track, be sure to check out our great sponsor Parent Financial and read our introduction to the company here.

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Tip #1: Plan Ahead for Summer Vacation

You plan ahead for flights and hotels and time off work so why not start planning in advance for all the costs associated with your dream trip? Court Creeden, who runs Parent Financial, advises that families should first figure out what the trip will cost and then incorporate those costs into their annual and monthly budgets, where a certain amount of money can be saved each month.

“From there you can start by determining how many months you have until the trip and then calculate how much you should be putting away each month to have the trip saved for when the vacation starts,” Creeden explained.

“As an example, if you are planning on spending $2,500 to take the family to the beach in July, you could start at the beginning of the year knowing you have seven months until the trip. To be ready for the total cost, you should have been saving $357/month leading up to the vacation and then you would have been fully prepared for the trip. The earlier you start the better and the less likely you will need to dip into savings or use a credit card to help handle the costs!”

Tip #2: Don’t Forget the Smaller Costs – They Add Up

This is so easy to overlook but those extra costs of a vacation, both before and during, can really add up. Maybe $100 for clothes, another $50 for shoes, $20 for sunscreen, a few dollars here and there for games for the car or plane ride all adds up. Then once the vacation starts, don’t forget about extra food and snacks, drinks, magazines, taxis or Uber, or the t-shirt and photos from the theme park.

“These small expenses can add up to hundreds of dollars if not planned for,” said Creeden. “As a result, many parents find that they look at the hotel and flights for a trip to figure out the ‘costs’. Once the vacation is over they realize that the trip was hundreds of dollars more because they didn’t take into consideration the park passes, new clothes, beach toys, etc that were purchased and increased the total cost. “

So plan wisely for all those extras ahead of time or put away a special fund for purchases.

Tip #3: Consider Less Expensive Alternatives

Some of you are reading this and saying, “But I want to take a summer vacation now and I haven’t budgeted seven months for it!” Hang in there.

“Consider hotel alternatives and look at Airbnb or VRBO to find less expensive lodging options,” suggests Creeden. “Don’t book hotels online or from a 1-800 number. Call the front desk and see if there are any special prices or availability to potentially get a better rate. If flying, consider two ‘one-way’ tickets rather than roundtrip to find some potential cost savings.”

There are also some great day trips to local spots that don’t cost much where you and your family could leave early in the morning and make a long day of it. And if you left early enough, you could drive to the beach, have fun all day, and drive back in the evening and save money on a hotel.

Tip #4: Do Your Homework

Besides planning ahead and thinking of incidentals and special gifts or purchases beforehand, there is a lot you can do to be smart about vacationing.

Creeden suggests to “do your homework and look for off-season passes, Groupon specials, and discounted rates. Don’t forget to consider using your rewards miles or points to offset costs for flights or hotels.”

Using those reward miles is how my family paid for our summer vacations. We got free flights and hotels and my parents taught us how it works but that you need to be smart and pay off the credit card bills while racking up the miles or points!

Tip #5: Remember that the Amount of Money Does Not Necessarily Equal the Amount of Fun

Remember that your children don’t know how much you spend, so a great weekend at the beach could be just as fun as one at an expensive amusement park.

Tip #6: Pack Your Lunch and Snacks

Pack lunches or buy snacks for the plane flight or car ride.

Tip #7: Pack a Souvenir

Buy the kids a fun souvenir ahead of time to give them when you arrive at Disney rather than paying a much higher price buying gifts the theme park.

Tip #8: Consider Listing Your Home for Rent While You Are Gone

Consider listing your home for rent on AirBnB while gone to make some extra money.

Try to think ahead and be financially smart so that taking well-earned your summer vacation won’t cause stress afterwards.

To learn about planning for your own family’s financial future and getting your budget on track, be sure to check out our great sponsor Parent Financial and read our introduction to the company here.

Do you have a tip to add that helps you save for your summer vacation?

Court Creeden is a registered representative of and offers securities, investment advisory and financial planning through MML Investors Services, LLC. Member SIPC [www.SIPC.org] 6000 Fairview Road Suite 400, Charlotte, NC 28210 (704) 557-9600. Court Creeden is not authorized to give legal or tax advice. Consult your own personal attorney legal or tax counsel for advice on specific legal and tax matters. CRN 201807-203641

Meet Kristina, KAG Food Expert

Kristina Hernandez is a mom of two girls, freelance writer and photographer and New Jersey native who is thrilled to call the Upstate her new home. She loves cooking, trying new foods, and checking out all that Greenville has to offer.