[piano intro] - Next, on "North Carolina Weekend", join us from the Children's Museum of Alamance County in Graham as we highlight places for family time.

We'll visit KidSenses in Rutherfordton, race go-karts in Mooresville, and sample great sandwiches in Durham.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] - Hurricane Helene recently devastated entire communities in Western North Carolina.

We have some mountain stories in this episode, but please keep in mind that these stories were prepared several weeks ago and tragically, conditions have changed.

However, we wanna support our mountain communities and they will need your tourism support to help rebuild.

But please be patient, it may take a while for this hard hit area to recover.

Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend" everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week we're at the Children's Museum of Alamance County in Graham.

This museum is a place where children and adults learn about each other, about themselves, and their world.

And what's really neat is that this museum really reflects Alamance County's culture and heritage.

We'll explore the museum more throughout the show, but first, let's head to Rutherfordton where there's a children's museum that offers a maker space that's pretty cool.

- I heard that the elves is yellow.

- Okay.

She just loves it.

She begs to come here.

- [Narrator] Deedee Watkins babysits her three-year-old daughter Windley.

When Windley's parents are working, Watkins brings her here to KidSenses Children's Interactive Museum in Rutherfordton two to three times a week.

- And every day I get her, she's like, "Are we going to KidSense?"

She just loves it here.

- [Narrator] The 11,000 square foot building has 14 exhibit spaces all with interactive features.

- [Mandi] We have all kinds of things here.

There's something new almost every time you come in.

- [Narrator] There are many replicas of real life places like a grocery store, a cafe, a veterinary clinic, even a television newsroom.

There are places to play with gears and gadgets, magnets and bubbles, and spaces just to create.

- [Mandi] Basically, learning through play.

Learning is work of childhood.

We all like to think that play is for fun and that's it, but actually, it's one of the critical milestones.

So, we want children to learn and be happy to learn about their environment, the world they live in, culture, life, a little bit of everything.

- [Narrator] The centerpiece exhibit is a real 1950s LaFrance firetruck.

- [Mandi] The kids love to go in there, ring the bell, do the alarm, make the lights go off, dress up.

That is definitely a hit.

- [Narrator] That physical interactivity is important.

- We have toddlers who use our grocery carts to learn how to walk in these spaces.

They're learning how to hold things properly when they play with our magnets or hold our markers.

There's a lot of early development that's critical and it's physical.

- Raise your hand, if you can tell me something about a worm.

- Worms have one mouth and nothing else.

- [Narrator] There are classroom programs too focusing on STEAM education, which means science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

This one is for a visiting elementary school class.

- [Kid] They're so cute.

- [Mandi] Kids learn less from being told something versus experiencing something and linking that to a positive memory, a positive experience.

- [Narrator] KidSenses began as the dream of a local parent who encouraged town leaders to include a children's museum in their downtown revitalization plans in 2001.

They eyed a vacant 1927 building that had been a car dealership and Five & Dime.

- [Mandi] And we said, this is perfect.

This is downtown.

It's big, let's do it.

- [Narrator] Three years and $2.5 million later, KidSenses opened in 2004.

It's hosted over half a million visitors from all over.

- Anybody who finds themselves wanting to see the mountains, enjoy a little small town and play, they come see us.

As long as you wanna pretend play, we're the spot for you.

- [Narrator] The museum serve children under 10, but is working on an expansion so they can serve children of all ages.

- We just want them to find a good place to be themselves, get some energy out, and make some good family memories.

- [Narrator] That's what it's been for Windley and her grandmother.

- What's he saying?

What's the turtle saying?

- He's saying ABC.

- ABC's.

Well, I think this is a great thing that they have here for the kids to come here.

I mean this is just a wonderful place to come, 'cause they just learn so much.

[playful music] - KidSenses is at 172 North Main Street in Rutherfordton and they're open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

For more information give them a call at [828] 286-2120 or go online to kidsenses.org.

I just love that the museum has cute little stations like this make-believe seafood restaurant for people to play with.

You know, another fun way to spend time with the family is with sugary treats and really cool games, right?

Well, we have found a place in Morganton called Merrill Mischief that's really a lot of fun, and we sent Theresa Litsky to check it out.

[upbeat music] - How you doing today, sir?

- [Sarah] This store is called Merrill Mischief.

- Rocky Road's the favorite today.

- So, Merrill is our last name and we knew that we wanted to open a store that was full of a lot of fun.

We weren't quite sure what that was gonna be.

So, we figured mischief covered everything, - You know, crazy, Wonka type of stuff.

I do offer a sample of our fudge.

We make it right here in the store.

- [Theresa] The idyllic setting of downtown Morganton certainly lends to the charm of this sweet shop, which continues inside with wall to wall joy.

- So, it goes candy, Christmas year round, and we do have Halloween, and some other fun stuff.

And then we have the fudge in the back.

And we wanted the candy, because I just really wanted a fun place for kids to come.

- [Theresa] And they mean kids of all ages.

- From toddler right to senior citizen.

We love to see the smiles.

- And I like the candy, because of the price points too.

A little kid can come in with a dollar and go out with something fun.

- [Theresa] You name it, they've got it.

From old time candy to the latest and greatest.

- [Craig] And we do our own freeze dried candy now.

- It tasted like fun on my taste buds.

- [Deborah] It sure does.

And for those who enjoy shopping for Christmas decorations year round, Merrill Mischief does not disappoint.

- And I always go in everything that says Christmas store.

- [Theresa] The artwork, Christmas or otherwise, was hand painted by Sarah.

- So, some of it's really quirky and kind of weird and some of it's really fun.

Some of it's a little more serious, you know, like lighthouses and barns.

Just fun places that give people good memories.

- [Theresa] And then there's their homemade fudge.

- It's so delicious and it makes the store smell amazing.

- [Theresa] That's due to Craig's talent for perfecting this sweet, rich confection.

- [Craig] These recipes are some of mine and some of my friends.

- [Deborah] You see the Merrills moved to North Carolina from Vermont, which is why you'll also find plenty of foods from that state in their store.

But it's the recipes Craig learned there that have proven the most delicious here.

- A good buddy of mine asked me before I left Vermont, if I could help him out at, you know, a couple falls at his country store and making fudge, and I said sure.

- And we have a lot of fun with it.

You can create different flavors of fudge.

A lot of people think it's just chocolate.

It's not just chocolate.

- And then a question I get a lot too is, "What's your favorite?"

And I say, "Well, are we talking breakfast, lunch or dinner?"

So, I try to change up fudges every two to three weeks depending on the season, seasonal fudges and this and that.

So, a lot of these are on the counter quite often.

The dark chocolate caramel sea salt, that one right there was a finalist in our state magazine, Maple Kissed Sweet Potato Pie where I use over a pound of sweet potatoes in one batch.

I've got maple syrup in there, I've got spiced pecan in there.

- There's a lot of different, some with sriracha.

- [Craig] Nice little kick to it.

- Unique flavors you don't see everywhere.

- Jalapeno, people look at the jalapeno, and like, "Wow, jalapeno, I don't know."

And they'll try it and it's a delayed heat, and they're like, and it's very calm and it's like, "Wow, that's beautiful."

And all my fudges too, I make fudge pretty much every day.

I don't stockpile fudge in the back.

So, everything I make is fresh and that dictates what I do on Monday.

I'll be back in Monday making more fudge for Tuesday when we open back up.

So, other than the fudges that you see on the counter here, my dark chocolate covered cherries, which are very popular.

My turtles, which if you see my turtles and we call 'em sea turtles, they're very large, or I do fudge covered Oreos.

- [Theresa] The Merrills think everything tastes better with fudge just like they believe life in general is just a little bit sweeter with a candy shop in it.

- I just love seeing people's faces when they come in and seeing all the different things.

It's really, it's kind of selfish, 'cause I love it.

It makes my day.

[playful music] - Merrill Mischief is at 105 East Union Street in Morganton and they're open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.

To find out more, give them a call at [828] 475-4975 or go online to merrillmischief.com.

I'm here with Michelle Davis, executive director of the Children's Museum of Alamance County.

Michelle, this is just delightful.

I love this space.

Tell me more about what's here and what kids can enjoy.

- Well, we have a lot of different exhibit spaces.

We have a building zone where they can, we have Imagination Playground, which are these giant loop building blocks where they can create whatever they want and they can take up the entire space.

We have a dental office so the children can pretend to be a dentist and have the dental chair x-rays to look at.

This is our lucky climber, and basically, the children can climb up.

They cannot escape, because of all of the wires, but when they get to the top they can look out over the town of Graham.

- [Deborah] Oh, that's so cool.

- [Michelle] And they have to do a lot of maneuvering.

There's some tight spaces, but adults can go up it as well.

- [Deborah] Well, thanks for the invitation, but maybe another time.

- [Michelle] Yes, we've had the governor's wife up there so.

- [Deborah] Oh, get outta here.

It's just really interesting.

That such a small community has such a big, beautiful space.

- Yes, we're very fortunate.

There was a couple, Phoebe and Pat Harmon, who created a challenge grant.

They have a local foundation within Alamance County and they put up a million dollar challenge grant and to the community, if they would meet that then they would build the Children's Museum.

So, challenge was met and cost a little bit more, but the Harmons felt very strongly in the need for this kind of event center here within Alamance County.

So, when we quickly got a lot of support, a lot of the local businesses anchored here in Alamance County supported it, sponsored the exhibit spaces, and made it happen.

- Michelle, how does the museum reflect the culture and heritage of Alamance County?

- So, we have the then and now area that features a cafe, which has been sponsored by Mildred Dewey.

They had a life long time seafood and family restaurant located and they had several located within Alamance County.

So, they felt very strongly.

She has great-grandchildren that visit the Children's Museum.

So, she wanted to be a part of this.

So, we also have a train depot, because originally, Burlington in Alamance County was known as the company shops and the hub was the train station and bringing everything here.

So, that was sponsored by the North Carolina Railroad.

Then we have our textile mill exhibit, because the bulk of Alamance County has a textile history.

So, Glen Raven Mills sponsored that exhibit.

- [Deborah] It's also sort of a dairy farm, right?

- It is.

We do have a farmhouse and that depicts life in the thirties, forties era.

It has collages all throughout the house of images of what Alamance County looked like back in the day, actual pictures of people and their homes, and how things looked, and what the towns looked like.

So, the kids can get a little bit of history lesson, while they're in there.

And then the farm yard has a mural all across it, which features dairy farming.

There is a local dairy farm.

We have several of 'em throughout the area.

So, it's to feature the culture and the farming, how important farming is within our community.

- Michelle, thank you so much for telling me all about it.

I'm sure that a lot of families are gonna have so much fun here.

- Thank you, we appreciate you coming to Alamance County today.

- The Children's Museum of Alamance County is at 217 South Main Street in Graham and they're open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

To learn more give them a call at [336] 228-7997 or check them out online at childrensmuseumofalamance.org.

Check out this exhibit.

It was built by high school students in Alamance County.

[toy cars thundering] And if you really love go-karts and racing, this next place is a kid's dream.

It's called The Pit and it's in Mooresville.

[upbeat games music] - So, we are at The Pit Indoor Go-Kart Racing in Mooresville, North Carolina.

- [Deborah] The Pit might be the name, but racing is definitely not all they offer.

- We opened in 2007, we were just the track and then we expanded in 2008.

[upbeat music] - It kind of exploded to entertainment everywhere.

So, we have more than just go-karts.

We have go-karts and laser tag, we have bumper cars, axe throwing and escape rooms, and arcade birthday parties, huge events.

So, it's more than just go-karting.

- [Deborah] But go-karts are the star attraction.

- Definitely the go-kart racing.

- Oh, we came here to have fun with the kids today.

Do a little go-karting.

- Of course, the go-karting.

We have go-karting for all the ages, whether you're three years old or 97 and you wanna do go-karting, we have go-karts for you.

- [Deborah] Here are the facts.

There are 70,000 square feet of track making it one of the largest single indoor cart tracks in the country.

- The track itself, if you stretch it out, it's a third of a mile long.

There's 20 turns, so you get a good work out of there.

Oh, yeah.

- [Deborah] The width of the track is 20 feet all the way around with a 22-foot wide straightaway.

Best of all, the Karts are fast.

- There's nothing that's fast as these go-karts here for the adults, but they also have three different stages.

Most go-kart tracks you go to don't have the stages for the younger crowd.

So, they love riding go-kart.

That's why we come here.

- [Deborah] The age range of adult drivers is 16 and up.

Youth drivers on this track are eight to 15 years of age, and speeds are set accordingly.

- So, the adults go up to 45 miles per hour and then the youth go up to 35.

- They are gas powered.

We do have good ventilation in here, and most places around us do have electric go-karts.

So, we kind of stand out more in ways that we have gas-powered go-karts.

- [Deborah] Gear is provided, but you'll need closed toed shoes.

After that, you're set.

- So, you get eight minutes out on the track.

[upbeat music] You can do anywhere from two laps to 10 laps.

It just depends on how comfortable you are and how fast you like to go.

- [Deborah] From the track, you can head upstairs for everything else.

- Yeah, so whenever the customers come inside, they go upstairs, they go to the cashiers, and depending on which package that you do, so you can just get individual tickets, but we also have different packages.

And then you get a ticket with your name on it and the activity and then you'll just head to the activity.

- [Deborah] Activities like axe throwing.

- Oh, I recently found out about that three years ago, and we've been coming since.

- You can either do that for 30 minutes or you can do it for an hour.

- [Deborah] That's if your arms are up for it.

- Oh yeah, you get a good arm workout.

- [Deborah] They also have go-karts upstairs for children free to nine.

Plus, bumper cars, escape rooms, and black light mini golf.

- There you go.

- We have our laser tag, arcade, and birthday parties.

So, in a Saturday we do birthday parties.

I would have about three during a day, whether they have racing and laser tag and we just coordinate with the parents.

- [Deborah] There's also opportunities on site for adults to practice team building.

- We have meeting rooms, so if you wanna come in for your meeting, we have that.

We have a very large banquet room.

We do facility rentals.

Other than the whole facility, if you just wanna come in and rent out the track for a couple hours, if you wanna do the laser tag for a couple hours, you are able to do that as well.

- [Deborah] The Pit also has concessions so you can refresh during your day of fun.

And considering everything is under one roof, you can visit rain or shine, cold or hot, just about every day of the year.

- Yes.

Y'all, all you gotta do just buy a ticket, show up.

[Ashley laughing] - The Pit Indoor Kart Racing is at 346 East Plaza Drive in Mooresville, and it's open daily.

For more information give them a call at [704] 799-3470 or visit them online at meetatthepit.com.

Family comes in different forms and spaces.

It's the people who surround you at home.

Also, it's the people who can surround you at work.

We found a great spot in Durham that serves up delicious sandwiches along with a sense of community.

[birds chirping] [traffic droning] - Well, you gotta find something that doesn't exist.

We just wanted a sandwich and then we made the sandwich we want.

And then people were like, "I want that sandwich."

And then we were like, "We have that sandwich, you want this sandwich?"

And they're like, "Yeah, I want that sandwich."

And now, here we are three years later making sandwiches, you know?

[upbeat music] First off, sandwiches are the best food.

If you go to Thanksgiving and you make a whole plate of food, the second thing at least that I'm doing is making a sandwich off the plate and people are always like, "Oh, it's just a sandwich," you know?

Well, it doesn't have to be.

It can be one of the best things you ever ate.

I was solidified at culinary school.

This place all of us used to go all the time called Rossi's Deli.

It's like this old guy, John Rossi, and his five sons and they just made life-changing sandwiches.

Paul and I, we always said we wanted to open a sandwich shop, and so we did it.

[upbeat music] - I think the menu is very purposeful, it's small menu and it stays that way.

Like it hasn't really changed much since we opened.

That's mainly because we try to make everything from scratch.

I think most popular sandwich is definitely the Uncle Primo.

As far as the retailer itself, we try to fill it with a lot of local vendors.

- Pizza dough, lasagnas, trying to keep the wine selection.

I pretty much solely stock wines that I like to drink.

- Well, it's a great sandwich.

I love that it's local.

I love like supporting local businesses, and it's just great food.

You can watch the ingredients being prepared.

So, I love stuff like that.

- I really like that they make their bread fresh.

I think that's a great component.

- I just like food and I'll go anywhere where it's at.

[customers laughing] - Well, but you know what?

It doesn't matter what you get, it's gonna be good.

- Exactly.

- So true.

- You'll be coming back.

- That's true.

- The roast pork one is probably like the most special for me.

Just with my family being from Philadelphia.

It helped me figure out the bread.

I wanted a bread that could stand up to a roast pork sandwich.

It's always gonna get a little soggy, because it's such a wet sandwich.

But it's really nice to unwrap a roast pork sandwich and still have a bit of crisp on the bread and it held together.

[birds chirping] Bread is daily.

I mean the bread is a three-day process.

So, the first day we make a Poolish and then the second day we make the dough.

And then, so today is the third day for this dough and we shape it, roll it, proof it, and bake it.

Joanne goes and takes care of sometimes her army of children.

- Like shoving my teenagers into bed as I'm leaving for work.

So, I like being here in the early hours before everyone else.

There's no traffic.

It's not stressful.

So, it's nice to have quiet hours.

[upbeat music] [birds chirping] - So, Ideal is the name of my grandfather on my mother's side.

He was the best.

All right, it's hard to talk.

It was my grandfather's name.

Yeah.

Very, very generous, very family orientated, super hardworking.

Grew up with nothing, gave his family everything, and passed unexpectedly.

- I mean the main reason we named it Ideal's is 'cause, you know, we wouldn't be able to do it without him.

- He would always just say, "You might as well mess up while you're young, 'cause once you have a family, you got stuff to lose."

[upbeat music] We are so lucky here that there's so many people that live around us and we have so many regulars that come in and all of our neighbors are so welcoming and nice.

Especially in the first year, with people just coming like three or four times a week and we're like, "Oh my God, you're here again."

Like, "Oh yeah, that's what regulars are."

Oh, we're so lucky to have so many regulars.

- The state of the industry and the world right now is like, it's hard, you know?

- It's brutal.

- To like, that's another thing that I feel really lucky about.

We're able to pay ourselves.

Everyone here makes a living wage.

That's huge.

And even beyond that, just all the stuff going on in the world right now, it's like sometimes it's hard to like keep things in perspective of, okay, we're just making sandwiches, you know, we're not changing the world, we're just trying to do whatever we can to make people's lives a little bit more enjoyable, I guess.

[upbeat music] - Ideal's Sandwich and Grocery is at 2108 Andrew avenue in Durham and they're open Thursday through Monday from noon to 3:00 pm.

To place an order, give them a call at [919] 724-0241 or go online to idealsdeli.com.

That's it for tonight's show.

We've had fun showing you around the Children's Museum of Alamance County in Graham.

When kids play, they learn.

And that's what this museum is all about.

And if you've missed anything in tonight's show, remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org or you can find us on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend everyone.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC.

Dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[dramatic music]