You might be wondering where I picked up two extra kids, in North Carolina, no less. They belong to Bianca and Skippy and are my niece and nephew! You can imagine that acquiring a girl child, if only for a day, is a nice addition to my usual pack of boys. Today’s pack ranged in age from 10 to 20 years, and the US National Whitewater Center was absolutely the perfect destination for this sunny, hot, Carolina day.

This is a winner as far as activities go and requires a full day to maximize your admission if you don’t have a season pass. It was personally my third trip here, and this is how I like to go about things. As soon as I pay, I sign up for the soonest white water trip. Today, I reserved spots for the six of us on the first family rafting trip available.

We filled the time until our first launch with the very cool Deep Water Solo, which involves scaling a climbing wall sans ropes. When you reach your maximum height, you let go, push out, and plummet… into a gorgeous and appropriately deep pool! The first time I attempted Deep Water Solo, I clung to the wall, slipping into the pool before my big toe located the next foot hold. That was, believe it or not, my victory climb, as my subsequent attempts to even enter the wall failed due to “slippery hands”. I promise it was me and not the wall, as other members of my group made it quite high. Difficult- yes. 100% fun and memorable- yes.

Next, we grabbed a reasonably priced lunch at The Market. The boys had the chicken fingers, us girls, the BBQ pulled pork. Don’t ask me why we needed the pimento cheese spread, but it ended up in our order and was devoured along with every other scrap of food. They have quite a nice sit down option at the Center, too…but eh, not today for this mom, 5 kids, and a quickly approaching whitewater trip.

The rafting is my favorite activity, here. After a safety talk, our group suited up, was checked, and boarded one raft, with a fun guide named Caelan. The path the rafts take is manmade and your trip is as wild as you and your guide would like it to be. After a loop filled with rocks, eddies, and rapids, a conveyor belt takes your raft up to the top…where you do it all again…and again! Yes, people fly and rafts flip, but I honestly felt so safe the entire time.

As the day progressed, other rafting trips opened up. I booked my boys on a later Adventure Rafting trip where they took it up a notch, while my niece and nephew and I opted for another family trip. We all arrived back around the same time after these second, amazing adventures. Four of us headed for ultra cool zip lining and two of us, myself included, gave flatwater kayaking and stand up paddleboarding a go. The water might have been “flat” but the current was too strong for this weary mom. I started on my feet on the board, juggling my phone and water bottle, as I dug in. I was cruising along with long strokes…until I glanced up and noticed I was at the starting point. My grand efforts had kept me exactly even with the dock. Even as I groaned and missed a stroke or two, I lost ground.

The zip lining group rejoined us after 7PM. Exhausted and happy, we left the park knowing that a delicious Chinese dinner would arrive right before us at Bianca and Skippy’s house.

So many other experiences are available at the US National Whitewater Center. This post covers just a bit of the fun. It’s truly a great place. More importantly, it’s a doable place for a single parent with a bunch of kids. Confidently make it your destination single parents of ten and ups!

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