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Charlotte
Illustrating simple scientific principles with eye-catching displays, Discovery Place is targeted largely at kids. It centers on a steamy rainforest that's inhabited by live macaws, and crossed by a swaying (not at all scary) rope bridge. Pretty much everything, including some docile snakes, is hands-on, though the 鈥楩antastic Frogs鈥 and pulsating moon jellies remain safely behind glass.
Visitors can pay extra to watch a movie in the big-screen IMAX theater.
5.25 MILES
The Sullenberger Aviation Museum, honoring Captain Chesley Burnett 鈥淪ully鈥 Sullenberger III, is located at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Levine Museum of the New South
0.13 MILES
Tracing the story of the 鈥楴ew South鈥 that emerged from the ashes of the Civil War, this committed museum explores the years of Reconstruction, Jim Crow鈥
2.65 MILES
The US Mint opened its first-ever outpost in Uptown Charlotte in 1837, using gold mined from the mountains nearby. Transported 3 miles southeast a century鈥
0.59 MILES
The race-car simulator ($5) at this rip-roaring Uptown museum hurtles you onto the track and into a 15-car race that feels surprisingly real. Elsewhere,鈥
0.53 MILES
A stunning modernist edifice tucked between mighty skyscrapers, the Uptown portion of Charlotte鈥檚 Mint Museum consists of two distinct halves. One makes a鈥
9.97 MILES
This 19th-century cotton plantation occupies a small corner of a scenic nature preserve, a dozen miles north of Uptown Charlotte. Exhibits in the visitor鈥
0.5 MILES
An Uptown landmark, thanks to sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle鈥檚 huge mirror-tiled Firebird out front, this showcase for 20th-century art was donated to the鈥
9.47 MILES
A pleasant woodland stroll within the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve leads past aviaries holding predatory birds that have suffered injuries 鈥 you may鈥
1. Levine Museum of the New South
0.13 MILES
Tracing the story of the 鈥楴ew South鈥 that emerged from the ashes of the Civil War, this committed museum explores the years of Reconstruction, Jim Crow鈥
0.42 MILES
This small park celebrates the African American artist and writer Romare Bearden, born in Charlotte in 1911. A pretty spot to admire the Uptown skyline or鈥
3. Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
0.5 MILES
An Uptown landmark, thanks to sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle鈥檚 huge mirror-tiled Firebird out front, this showcase for 20th-century art was donated to the鈥
0.53 MILES
A stunning modernist edifice tucked between mighty skyscrapers, the Uptown portion of Charlotte鈥檚 Mint Museum consists of two distinct halves. One makes a鈥
0.58 MILES
This thriving Uptown art museum was named in honor of former city mayor and civil rights champion Harvey Gannt. Its three small galleries host changing鈥
0.59 MILES
The race-car simulator ($5) at this rip-roaring Uptown museum hurtles you onto the track and into a 15-car race that feels surprisingly real. Elsewhere,鈥
2.65 MILES
The US Mint opened its first-ever outpost in Uptown Charlotte in 1837, using gold mined from the mountains nearby. Transported 3 miles southeast a century鈥
8. Charlotte Museum of History
4.19 MILES
There鈥檚 a lot to read at Charlotte鈥檚 history museum, in a restored mansion 6 miles east of the center. Wordy displays explain the city鈥檚 origins, and its鈥