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| - Where Jeff reviewed the other activities and excluded the nature center, this review is for the nature center, specifically during one of their "Nature at Night" events (not the UYE, as my inner calendar was off by a week).
First up, let me tell you that you may not want to visit at rush hour if you are headed from the Charlotte area, and if you do, give your self plenty of extra time. The drive down Tryon Street/49 can be excruciating. Luckily, you generally will be visiting in the day so this isn't an issue, but they do have night programs, so just keep this in mind, K?
Once you get to the entrance to the preserve, it may seem a little intimidating. Like crazy axe killer coming out of the woods when no one is around intimidating. There is little to no signage and if no one is around it can be pleasant ("hey, no one is around - this is peaceful!") or scary ("hey, no one is around - do I have my pepper spray and yawara stick?").
As you pull into the nature center, it is probably best to not get your hopes up too high. As with many things, there is marketing at work here.
For instance, the "indoor campfire" is a fan in a room with light attached to it. Seating is reminiscent of folding lawn chairs (it may have been folding lawn chairs). There is also an indoor night sky, which is really dots or splatters of paint on the ceiling - it does not seem to be an accurate representation of the actual sky or constellations (if you are into that sort of thing).
There are a few reptiles in cages, and you can color in a spider or draw something on construction paper with crayons. If you are up for it, you can hike in the woods around the nature center, and there is supposedly a telescope nearby, but the location was not revealed to us by the staff. On our visit, they also offered hot water which could be used to mix our own hot chocolate.
At night, this may not be the best place to visit, especially in the winter season and during inclement weather. During the day when you can get out and about, there definitely seems to be more potential here.
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