My family loves spring travel – in most parts of the country, the birds are starting to chirp, the flowers are blooming, and baseball’s revving up.  That’s when we like to discover a new destination – who knows what we’ll find?  This month, we’re headed to North Carolina, a jewel of the South that offers more than the most ambitious family can do in a month. 

Like what, you say?  Well, the Durham Bulls, North Carolina’s minor league team, has tons of spirit and welcomes families with even the tiniest fans.  Remember Bull Durham?  The Marbles Kids Museum has an IMAX theater, a children’s garden, and hands-on exhibits.  And older kids will love touring Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, on Segways.

If you’re more into a beach vacation, head to the Outer Banks.  Tour the many lighthouses – my kids love to pretend to guide the ships into shore – or visit the Wright Brothers Memorial.  The North Carolina aquarium will introduce kids to the kinds of fishes and fauna that live in the warm waters on the North Carolina coast.  And, of course, the white sand beaches with their sandcastle beach houses totally rock.

If you love horses, the North Carolina state fairgrounds usually have some kind of rodeo happenings.  And for history, head to the North Carolina Museum of History.  My kids ask as they take in the re-created interior of a typical North Carolina drugstore from the 1920s, complete with pharmacist’s workroom and authentic marble-topped soda fountain, “did Grandma and Grandpa really eat at places like this?”

When they want to eat out?  My kids scream for the Locopops in Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina.  They’re typical popsicles in unusual flavors (think bacon and kiwi, for example – and yes, bacon does make everything taste better).  Our other favorite?  Cosmic Mexican, an eensy-teensy burrito place (conveniently located next to Locopops) with gigantic servings.