Free Things to Do in Fayetteville This Weekend

 #FayettevilleNCFree

Free events galore this weekend in the Fayetteville area!

Friday, May 15, 2015

*Lollipops Concert (Cape Fear High School Orchestra)
"Let's Go to the Movies"
10-11:30 a.m.
East Regional Library
4809 Clinton Road
Fayetteville, NC 28312-8401

*Meet the Cat in the Hat
Meet The Cat, get story, craft and treat
Barnes and Noble
7:00 pm
Glensford Commons, 121 Glensford Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28314

*Orienteering and Map Reading

Raven Rock State Park

2:00 pm

Meet at Visitor Center

Bring your own compass if you have one.

910-893-4888

Saturday, May 16, 2015

*Stedman Party in the Park
10 a.m.- 10 p.m
192 Euclid Street, Stedman, NC 28391
Kids activities, bands, dancers, street dance, army bands, Airborne chorus, vendors, corn hole tournament.

*Create Your Own Robot

11-12 a.m.

West Regional Library

7469 Century Circle Fayetteville, NC 28306

Registration is required by visiting the library or calling 487-0440. All ages.

*Movie at the Library

"Alexander and the No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day"

11 a.m.-12:30 pm

North Regional Library

855 McArthur Road
Fayetteville, NC 28311

*Sandhills Sankofa Festival

11:00 am-6:00 pm

African American Culture Festival

Music, vendors, art, gospel music

Spring Lake Recreation Center

245 Ruth St
Spring Lake, NC

*Clark Park Nature Hour
"Amphibians"
10:00am-11:00 am
Clark Park
631 Sherman Drive
Fayetteville, NC

Call to register. 910-433-1579

*Movie Under the Stars
"Boxtrolls"
Smith Lake Recreation Area
Open to the Public
Bring Blankets chairs
No outside food or drink allowed.
Door prizes/giveaways

*Senses Hike for National Kids to Parks Day
Carver's Creek
6 p.m.
2505 Long Valley Road, Spring Lake, NC 28390

*Holistic and Wellness Super Expo

10:30am-5:30pm

Demonstrations and seminars on yoga, meditation, herbs, martial arts, acupuncture, etc.
CHARLIE ROSE AGRI-EXPO CENTER
1960 Coliseum Drive
Fayetteville, NC 28306

Register online for seat http://steppress.org/

Donations appreciated

*Lafayette Doll and Toy Club Show

Headquarters Library

10:30 am-5:30 pm

300 Maiden Lane
Fayetteville, NC 28301-5032

Sunday, May 17 2015

*Party for the Pine
Celebrate the birthday of a 467 year old tree
Weymouth Woods
Visitor Center
3:00 pm
1024 Ft. Bragg Road, Southern Pines, NC 28387
Hike to the tree with a park ranger, and then have cake!
http://ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/wewo/events.php

*Sudan Shriner's Parade
11:30am-12:30pmIntersection of Broad Street and Wilson Ave
Dunn, NC

*Family Renaissance Fair

12-4pm

North Carolina Museum of Art

2110 Blue Ridge Rd., Raleigh, NC 27607

Royalty, craftsmen, jugglers, bards,fairies, warriors

Schedule: http://ncartmuseum.org/calendar/event/2015/05/17/family_renaissance_fair1/1200

Free Putt-Putt for Mom

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 10th, and Putt-Putt in Hope  Mills, NC is hooking your mom up. With this coupon, mom gets a free round of mini-golf free with a paying player. It's a nice change from the usual, old brunch. The coupon is good for a month!

#FayettevilleNCFree

Fayetteville, NC For Free!

Everyone knows that my favorite word is "free," and I try to keep my little circle of friends abreast of all the free happenings in my current home city of Fayetteville. Don't feel left out. I'm hoping to expand that circle to include you. I intend to post weekly free goings on in Fayetteville and the surrounding areas. Look for this tag, #FayettevilleNCFree. Let's get out and enjoy all the activities that Fayetteville has to offer.. for free!

May 7, 2015- Thursday

*Pay what you can (donations) after 1:00 pm

 Fascinate-U Children's
116 Green St, Fayetteville, NC 28301
(910) 829-9171

* Dolphin Tale 2 movie at the library 4:00pm
Spring Lake Public Library
101 Laketree Blvd
Spring Lake, NC
(910) 497-3650

*Raven Rock Hike For Your Health

9 a.m. Ranger led hike for ages 12 and up.

Call to register 910-893-4888

May 8, 2015-Friday

*Free entrance to Cape Fear Botanical Garden for National Public Gardens Day. Download an  admission coupon from NationalPublicGardensDay.org.


 Cape Fear Botanical Garden
 536 N Eastern Blvd, Fayetteville, NC 28301
(910) 486-0221


*Kick off of Cliffdale library, "Who is Your Hero" essay contest for grades K-5. Three prizes awarded. (Due by May 29th)

6882 Cliffdale Road
Fayetteville, NC 28314-1936

*Midtown Beach Music Series: North Tower- Raleigh, NC

Commons of North Hills

6-9 p.m.

Free concert series

4160 Main at North Hills St., Raleigh, NC 27609

919.719.5434

May 9th, 2015-Saturday

*Society for Creative Anachronism Live Demo (Medieval arts, sport, costume) 

2-4 pm 

Bordeaux Branch Library

3711 Village Dr, Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 424-4008

*Civil War Band discussion with Dr. Robert Downing

Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex

2 p.m.

801 Arsenal Ave, Fayetteville, NC 28305

(910) 486-1330

*Lowe's Mother's Day Kid's Planter

Build and Grow Workshop

10:00 a.m.

http://lowesbuildandgrow.com

*Clark Park Nature Hour

10:00 a.m.

631 Sherman Drive

910-433-1579

*Meet Donald and Daisy at Disney Store in Crabtree Valley Mall, Raleigh

10-4 pm Disney Store

4325 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, NC 27612

First 500 will get free gift!

May 10, 2015-Sunday

*Civil War Cemetery Tour
2p.m.
Cross Creek Cemetery #1

A Month of Fun

I just want to have infinite fun. Is that so wrong? Well, it might not be very realistic, but that's why we haven't blogged in over a month. We've just been busy living it up. Yachts and champagne! Not. More like bounce houses and fro-yo, but the kind of things 7 year old girls and middle aged women find amusing.

We've communed with nature.

Add caption

I found a four leaf clover!

My daughter found an even bigger four leaf!

Feeling like a "Sam Squantch"

We've gone to festivals.

March of Dimes Walk

At an Easter Festival in MS

Spring Lake Spring Fest

A very rainy Dogwood Festival

Theater, anyone?

Jasmine Guys Harlem Renaissance 

FSU does Hair

Food Lion Kitchen at Southern Women's Expo

Randy Fenoli from "Say Yes to the Dress"

We journeyed to Mississippi to see family.

My sister would kill me if I didn't mention that she is preggo!

My mom-in-law gave me a wreath tutorial.

We  found a little magic.

We finished Prisoner of Azkaban so we celebrated with butter beer and homemade wands.

We nurtured friendships.

NOT PICTURED: We moved to a new apartment, and that was work! School activities: school dance, awards day/performance, Earth Day activities. We have done a lot of crafts at our local libraries. Yesterday, we went to the Indian Festival and made rangoli. But this post is bordering on infinite so I think I'll stop now.

What are you doing this weekend?

Kure Beach

Winter has packed up her scarves and sweaters and gone back to Canada or wherever the hell she came from. There's no more frost on my car in the morning. No more cold steering wheels. No more drippy noses. Spring is officially here. Is there a better way to celebrate than a trip to a sandy shore? We headed to our favorite beach in North Carolina, Kure Beach.

The mere sight of a palm tree makes me giddy. The local houses are all pastel colors with palm trees in the yard. Oh, how I would love a little beach cottage of my own!

The ocean was so cold we couldn't put our feet in it more than a minute, but we had a great time making a game of this. We'd run into the water and run back out screaming...with smiles on our faces and bloody red feet.

Even when the water isn't being cooperative, you still have an enormous sand box to play in. Finally, that art minor from my university days pays off! We built sand sculptures on the ground and on each other.



And there were crashing waves and skim surfers to watch. I often see traditional surfers at Kure Beach, but this was the first skim surfing I have ever seen in person. I'm totally going to get one of these boards. I am pretty sure my husband would love this, too!

On the way back, we stopped for some serious fro-yo. We don't keep sweets in our house so we get to go out for ice cream on occasion. It's a good trade off.

North Carolina is full of these gorgeous blooming pear trees. Rows and rows of them. They are stunning, but their first week in bloom, they smelled like cat pee. But Jumping Jehoshaphat, they are gorgeous!

God, I flipping love spring!

Get Paid to Stand Around

I was paid $50 to dance in a flash back scene in a documentary once. I got to dress like a flapper, got a glimpse at behind-the-scenes filming, met nice people, and they paid me $50. That's the adventurous life of an extra!

Surprisingly, you don't have to live in NYC or LA to get extra work. Crews film all over North America, mostly during summer and fall months. I live in smallish city in North Carolina, and I can't tell you how many television shows, commercials, webisodes and films were shot within two hours of me.

A friend of my sister's has even gotten the most coveted extra job, being a walker on The Walking Dead. He's done it twice. I met a lady that got paid thousands to be in a food stamp commercial with her kids. I can't wait to try my hand at more interesting work as a "background actor." A hobby that pays you!!!!

Check out Auditions Free. They are one of the few websites that don't charge you to get the contact info for extra work. Hope to see you on set someday! 

Balls, Marbles, Dickey's, and Dr. Quinn

If blogging were my job, I'd be fired. Well, yes, because of the lazy, grammatically unsound writing and sometimes boring subject matter. (Oh, boy, you took your kid to Chuck E. Cheese. The whole world must simply know every detail about this!) But, today, I am referring to the fact that I am just now getting around to posting photos from the weekend before last. Shame sticking the hell out of myself.

Pretty much every post starts with me winning tickets to something or somewhere. I'm Lady Perpetua Brokington of Frugalton over here. If it weren't for local giveaways from blogs and tv and radio stations, my blog would be about getting my taxes done and teeth cleaned. Guess, what? I won tickets.

 My weekend kicked off with a win for tickets to The Laurie Berkner Band. If you have ever watched Nick Jr. or Sprout you know this group! "I'm gonna catch you, you better run.." Ring a bell? All the songs were very audience participation heavy with hand motions, call and response, jumping and spinning. I wondered if my daughter, who is almost seven and a half would like songs about cake, loving your family and planting seeds. She absolutely did! She was dancing n the aisles. I didn't get in the aisles, but I danced in my seat. I couldn't help it!

During one of the final songs of the show, the band released beach balls into the crowd. If you know a struggling band, tell them to do this. The crowd will go wild! Well, it worked on preschoolers so I'm guessing it would have the same effect on drunk people in a bar.

After the concert, we were famished, but the restaurants were closed in Downtown Raleigh. On a Saturday! We headed to the local vegan eatery. Closed! But next door was a Dickey's Barbeque. Just what every vegetarian wants. They didn't have tofu, but Dickey's actually made a really nice vegetable plate. My daughter loves corn-on-the-cob more than candy so she was heaven, with butter dripping down her chin.

I heard Jane Seymour, aka Dr.Quinn, Medicine Woman, had her art displayed in a gallery downtown so we swung by. I couldn't take shots of the pieces, but Ms. Seymour was actually very skilled in a variety of styles of painting and sculpture, too. They were pretty traditional, flowers and oceans, but good! She had a few kind of cheesy self portraits as Dr. Quinn. Those were my favorite. I love corniness.

This blurry thing is actually the Jane Seymour poster outside a gallery

We missed our chance to meet Jane in person, but we happened to be in town for a little belated Mardi Gras madness.

Lastly, Le Kid insisted we check out Marbles, the children's museum in Raleigh. There happened to be a kid's career fair that day. The whole place was epic. The kind of epicness best explained in pictures. Let the poor quality photos roll!

Le Kid cried like an infant when, after 3 very noisy hours, I announced it was time to go. And she slept like an infant the whole way home.