15 Things to Do for Less Than $15 in and Around Charlotte, North Carolina

With the high cost of gas these days, it's little wonder that folks are opting to spend their vacation time in their own back yards. The term "stay-cation" has been adopted for people who either choose to or have no other option but to remain close to home rather than drive for hours and then pop for a hotel. So you've got this week off from work and for the first few days just hanging around the house has been fun. But now what? Whether you're looking for family fun, a more mature level of entertainment, something intellectual - or even something to do after work all summer long - there are lots of inexpensive things to do in and around Charlotte! Here's a list of the top 15 things to do in the Charlotte area for $15 or less per person.

Adults looking for some after-work excitement can make their way to Two Wachovia Plaza at the corners of Tryon and Martin Luther King every Thursday this summer from 5:30-9p.m. for free, live entertainment at Alive After Five. Each week a different cover band plays in a live concert and the admission to this event is completely free. Cold beer, wines and frozen drinks are available during the event. For more information and for a list of performers check out www.1079thelink.com.

The Charlotte area is a great place for museums and caters to people of any age. The absolute best place for the kids is the Discovery Place Children's Museum. This summer's main attraction is Dinosaurs and runs until August 17th. You and your children will see a replicated 130 million year old Mesozoic forest that could have been found in China and an animatronic T-Rex that walks in place. In addition to this newest exhibit there is the younger children's exploration room, rat basketball and lots of other fun and educational permanent exhibits. The cost is $10 for adults and $8 for children 2-13 and adults over 60. Visit www.discoveryplace.org for more information on extra features like the IMAX theater.

Located close the Discovery Place Museum is the Charlotte Nature Museum. Here children can get hands-on experience working with insects and other creatures. The Big Backyard exhibit allows kids to dig in the dirt and climb through tunnels. Admission is $5 for anyone over 2 years of age and groups of 15 or more can get in for $4 each with advance reservations. Visit www.discoveryplace.org/home/nature_museum-admission.php for more information.

For the more mature crowd try the Charlotte Museum of History (www.charlottemuseum.org). Here you can visit the oldest house in Mecklenburg County and peruse the historic gardens. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the museum grounds. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, $3 for children 6-12 and free for children under 6. Guided tours are available at 1:15 and 3:15. Also in the area is the Levine Museum of the New South (www.museumofthenewsouth.org) and its exhibit Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers, voted one of the best exhibitions in the southeast by the Southeast Museum Conference Curators' Committee. Adult admission is $6, seniors and children 6-18 are $5 and children under 6 are free. Save even more money by opting for the family ticket and everyone enters for $17.

The Latta Plantation (www.lattaplantation.org) is a museum of living history. Located in Huntersville, Latta Plantation takes you back 200 years to visit a farm and its animals in times long gone by. You can tour the plantation on your own or take the guided tours that leave every half hour from 11-4 Tuesday through Saturday and every hour on Sundays from 2 to 4. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for adults over 62, children 5-17 and students with ID.

Reed Gold Mine (www.nchistoricsites.org/reed/reed.htm) is a very educational and entertaining way to spend your afternoon at a minimal cost. Take a walk through the historic mines of the first documented gold find in the United States. You can tour the underground tunnels and ore-crushing stamp mill, view gold exhibits and learn about mining equipment - all for free! Take home a bit of the past with $2 gold panning where you can pan for gold just like the pioneers did!

The Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens (www.stowegardens.org) located in nearby Belmont, NC is a beautiful way to spend your afternoon. Pack a picnic lunch and dine on the terrace with a spectacular view of the gardens. Admission to tour the gardens is $10 for adults, $9 for adults over 60 and $5 for children 4-12. The Gardens recommends you bring along sunscreen, insect repellant and of course your camera for the most enjoyable visit.

Perhaps you're looking for a bit of family friendly fun in the cooler evening hours. Check the Charlotte Knights baseball team. Check out their website at www.charlotteknights.com for the latest schedule for the next game. Call 704-357-8071 for the reserved lower level seating at $10 a piece or show up at the gate for $7 general admission seats. Your kids will delight in Homer, the 4-wheel riding mascot who likes to through T-shirts and other prizes into the stands.

Looking the beat the heat during the day or did your previously scheduled pool day get rained out? Head over to Ray's Splash Planet, the year-round indoor water park! Slide down the Blue Comet - a three-story water slide, or relax in the Orbiter as you tube around the Blue Comet. There's an area for water volleyball and a kiddie area for the little ones. County residents get a special discounted admission at $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and kids under 17. If you're just there to watch your kids have fun you can purchase an escort ticket for $3. Call 704-432-4RAY for more information or look them up on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation website at www.charmeck.org.

Have a train enthusiast in your family? Try out the North Carolina Transportation Museum (www.nctrans.org)located in Spencer, NC. Admission into the museum is free, however donations are appreciated. Train rides leave at 11, 1, 2, and 3 Monday through Saturday and at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 on Sundays. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for adults over 60 and children 3-12. Take a ride with the engineer in the Diesel cab rides, which accommodate up to 3 people with tickets costing $10 per rider. You can also take a 5 minute ride on the turntable at $1 per person.

A short ride to Gastonia will take you to the Schiele Museum of Nature History and Planetarium (www.schielemuseum.org). The natural history exhibits will take you through thousands of years of flora and fauna, while the planetarium has programs to delight even the youngest of space explorers. Admission into Schiele is broken down into museum-only, museum and planetarium or museum, planetarium and featured exhibit tickets. Adult tickets are $4, $7 and $11, while seniors and children 4-18 are $2, $4 and $7 respectively. Residents of Gastonia may enter the museum for free.

Love animals or know someone who does? Want to get up close and personal with over 750 animals from 6 different continents? A short drive to Mooresville and the Lazy 5 Ranch (www. lazy5ranch.com) is the perfect way to spend any day. There's a petting area, a blacksmith shop and a horse barn. Enjoy your own picnic lunch in the picnic area and then take a horse-drawn wagon ride around the ranch. Admission is $8.50 for adults and $5.50 for seniors and children. Wagon rides are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and children.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Want more animals? Try the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro (www.nczoo.org). Begin your journey from either the North America or Africa parking lots and make your way through hundreds of animals to the other side of the park. Take a tram ride back to your car at the end of your journey. You'll see everything from zebras to crocodiles to meerkats! Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for adults over 62 and college students with ID and $6 for kids 2-12.

For thrills and chills you can't get any closer to the action than at Nascar Speedpark (www.nascarspeedpark.com/concord.html) located a short ride north from Charlotte in Concord, NC. The speedpark has miniature gold, 5 race tracks, kiddie rides, an arcade, a rockwall, bumper boats, Lazer tag and a Nascar reactor simulator. It doesn't get any more exciting than this and it's not going to cost an arm and a leg. Individual tickets for the attractions are $3 and a roll of tokens is $10. You can also buy attraction tickets in bulk for $10 and $20 or get an all-day pass for two people for $29.99 - that's less than $15 a person for a whole day of fun!

There's no need to spend your entire vacation cooped up in your house - get out and visit some museums, walk and talk with the animals or race around the tracks. With so many inexpensive options you don't need to put a limit on your summer fun!