OK, if you are a reader, you’ll know that I highly recommend Kool Park in Hickory for all of your swimming needs. However, at $12 a head (for adults) it can be a costly day.
Looking for a cheap pool for the kids to enjoy? You need to head for Cramerton.
Stats: $3 to get in.
Snacks are available. You may bring a picnic and cooler, as picnic tables are also available.
4 lifeguards on staff, one diving board and LOTS of deep water for your teens.
They also do pool parties for around $150
We went to Cool Park today in Hickory and had such a blast! We have usually made the first visit here by now, but we took that trip to Disney right after school let out, so we delayed our first visit to almost July…unheard of in the Zick house!
To get here, take StarTown Road all the way to Spings Rd. in Hickory. Take a right on Springs and a left on Kool Park Rd. Take a right at the first red light (by the church) and you’ll see the sign for Cool Park on the right. You can thank me later.
Some stats: It costs $12 for adults, $8 for kids, bring a picnic as there are plenty of picnic tables. No glass bottles, no alcohol. The lifeguards are quite lax and you can do pretty much what you want.
Cool Park is open daily from 10-6 pm. During the week you can go at 3pm and get in for 1/2 price. 3 hours of swimming is usually plenty for us. Going at this time also ensures that all of the daycare kids are gone by that time.
My family and I decided to take a much needed long weekend trip to Helen, Georgia over the Easter holiday. We had the best time in this beautiful little town! My only issue was we needed one more day to enjoy everything Helen has to offer!
We stayed at a lovely resort called Mountain Lakes and stayed in their Alpine Chalet. It was a fun place with tons to do on site, all included in the price! For starters, our chalet had a dining room, private deck with chairs and benches, living room (with sleeper sofa and a fireplace!), kitchen (fully equipped), bathroom, master bedroom and an open loft upstairs for the children. To get to the loft there was a spiral staircase.
The resort had enough to do for us to never leave the grounds! It has an indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room, hot tub, every board game you can imagine, ping pong, tennis, shuffle board, mini-golf, boating, fishing, horseback riding, swimming in the lake and at 2 outdoor pools, and activities planned every day! We opted for the Easter egg hunt, the Bingo and the Pancake Breakfast after the Sunrise service on Easter Sunday.
When we first ventured into Helen, we stopped at the coolest rock shop. The kids each got a rock and we headed on in to Helen proper. We walked the main shops, and then settled on a place called the Troll for dinner, so called because of its proximity to the bridge that goes over the river it is right beside. While the food left much to be desired, the riverside seating more than made up for it.
The next day we set an exhausting pace. We went back into Helen and enjoyed a covered carriage ride pulled by Wilbur the horse! We shopped at Charlemagne’s Toys to let the kids spend some vacation money that was blowing a hole in their pockets. We decided to get back to nature after our retail therapy of the morning and hike to the Dukes Creek Falls and have a picnic lunch. We stopped at Hofer’s of Helen, a German bakery, to pick up some desserts: a blueberry muffin, German chocolate cake, 
apple fritter and a Sacher torte. Yum! Our next stop was to one of the best food shops, Betty’s Country Store, that I’ve been in in awhile and bought sandwiches that were to die for! We happily headed down the 1.1 mile hike down to the falls and then enjoyed our hearty lunch.
Afterwards we cruised up to Brasstown Bald, one of the highest peaks in the south. It made me sick to my stomach, all of those hairpin curves, but it was a beautiful sight, once we reached the top. Afterwards, we went back to the resort to enjoy some on site activities, mainly a little putt putt!
After a suprisingly fun game of Bingo with the whole family, we headed into Helen to our “splurge” restaurant: 
The Hofbrau House. Oh My. It was the best food I’ve had in a looooong time! We had Jaegar Schnitzel and knockwurst with all of the trimmings. If you are in Helen, you do not need to miss it.
We had the best time, and I’d recommend Helen to anyone!
Now that spring is just around the corner, and we’ve been seeing some warmer temps, people are out walking for exercise and fun again! We have the perfect trail in Lincoln County called the Marcia Cloninger Rail Trail. It is perfect for walkers, joggers, strollers and cyclists! The trail is lit and landscaped and it runs from Pine Street to Motz Avenue and is about a mile in length. There is the hope that one day it will be expanded to the Ramsour’s Mill battle site.
Even Realtors have to take a day off. My kids were steaming mad at me because I’ve been going going going every single day for a while. I turned the phone on low today and took them to the Catawba Science Center to get some brownie points and a little education.
Catawba Science Center is located in Hickory, NC on the Salt Block. We’ve been several times before but this time the exhibit is about deep space and also sea creatures! We saw a program about Black Holes in the planetarium that was like an IMAX lite experience. My 11 year old loved it!! More geared toward my 4 year old, we also went over to touch nurse sharks, sting rays, starfish, horseshoe crabs, sea anemone and the like. We even saw Nemo and Dory! They had a blast. If you’ve never been up there, but have young kids, you must go. You can sneak in a little learning and they won’t even know it!
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