My family (myself, dh, dd (5) and ds (2)) are headed to Raleigh in the beginning of October to visit family and see the sites. We're usualy go-go-go type of travellers and don't like to sit around doing nothing. Can you tell me if what we have planned sounds good? We'd like to fit in some time to visit a park and let the kids play as well. I wasn't sure if we could squeeze that in on either Monday or Thursday. Here's what we have planned:

Sunday - arrive, settle in and visit
Monday - Museum of Natural Science
Tuesday - NC Zoo in Asheboro (how far away is this really?)
Wednesday - Horseback Riding at Deadbroke Farms, Playspace Children's Museum (are these on the same side of town?)
Thursday - Life and Science Museum
Friday - State Fair and head home (how much time should we allot for the fair?)

My son doesn't take a typical nap so thankfully we don't have to schedule around that. He'll nap on the go. So if anyone can help with the questions I posed above I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks!
~Allison

Do the fair on Monday or Tuesday. You can knock out the horse rides by doing a ride on the ponys, a camel etc.,.

The state fair should be given a day if you can. It's perfect for kids that are the age of your kids. Their are rides. The building of Yesteryear to see gardening, glass blowing, iron making. Then the kiddie rides. The Graham building with all the 4 H animals. The little red barn with the bunnies, chicks, etc.,

Belive me you need a day.

Asheboro is an hour away. Solid. That will be an entire day. I don't know if you will be as interested once you did the state fair since you will see so many animals there. I'd possibly think about taking that off the schedule. It's a zoo. You can find them in any state. There is enough to see in Raleigh that you can keep busy!

Playspace is not on the same side of town as Deadbroke. So it will be a drive and depending on the time of day you will battle traffic.

I think you could do Playspace and then Imax or one of the museums downtown.

I like the Museum of Natural Science. But also think about going to Chapel Hill and seeing Planetarium. It's also fall and being on Franklin would be nice.

One word about the Asheboro zoo - it isn't like the Bronx Zoo or the National Zoo, if that's what you're used to. In Asheboro, many of the animals have large habitats, so it's quite possible, that the animals will be hanging out in a part of their habitat that makes them a little more difficult (and occasionally, almost impossible) to see. It's much more humane to the animals, but it can make for a surprising viewing experience, if you were expecting the animal to be in a 10'x10' cage in front of you at all times. (I remember having to squint and crane my neck to see the elephants as a kid.)

I agree about moving the State Fair up a bit - on Fridays it can be a lot more crowded than midweek.

Typically the best days for the state fair are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. less crowd.

I agree the Zoo in NC is very humane. But, you can sometimes go to visit and see half the animals.

The Museum of Life and Science is in Durham. Add in walking around Duke University and Gardens to the trip. Could also go to the Duke homestead.

Add in Chapel Hill on this day. The planetarium as mentioned above and walking around the campus.

From Raleigh, I'd say the zoo is 1 1/2 hours. Yes, they have lots of space for the animals.

Are you going to the NC State Fair on opening day? Try to get there close to opening. Traffic can get backed up for the fair. It's pretty close to the airport so it's a good last place for your trip. And at the fair get ice cream from the NC State University food co-op program. It's near the village of yesteryear.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Yes, we're going to the fair on opening day so we don't have a choice of mid-week. We were thinking of getting there at opening and then heading out around 2:00pm. We're driving back home and only going about 5 hours the first leg so we can extend our fair time a little if needed.

As far as the zoo goes I'd much rather prefer the open type exhibits than the cages. Yes, you can see the animals better in a cage but we've been to enough zoos that the kids have seen it all. We have AZA passes so the admission is free. That's the main reason we're going. That and to get a little drive in to see the countryside and different landscape than home.

Is Deadbroke on the same side of town as one of the other places we're going that we could combine it? They do a ride along at 10:00am during the week that we wanted to do. DD is horse crazy so we wanted to do a little more than the typical pony ride.

Any other tips??

Dead Broke is located close to RDU airport. From their it will be about 25 to 40 minutes to Playspace. You will leave and get on 70. I say 25 b/c of traffic. But, it's a straight shot really.

By the way I don't think Playspace is THAT big of a deal. You only get to be there for an hour. That is how they sell tickets. It's neat but it's not a trip stopper moment. I'd go to Chapel Hill or Duke Gardens like mentioned over that! Keep in mind they have odd hours during the school year too.

I would skip PlaySpace. I don't think it's anything to write home about ...... Definitely, do the N. C. Zoo. I love it ... and you're going at a good time of year. To me, the polar bears alone are worth the trip!

I think you'll have fun at the Fair on Friday, but you might need to stay a bit longer than two o'clock. Have a good trip to our fair city!

Trying to find more info on the planetarium. I think the kids would like that. Is the one you're talking about called the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center?

Yes, it's the Morehead Planetarium.