Things to Do in Henderson

• For $4, you get one ticket to any regular-season home game on Sunday–Thursday (an $8 value before fees, or up to a $9.50 value online, including all ticketing fees). • For $16, you get four tickets to any regular-season home game on Sunday–Thursday (a $32 value before fees, or up to a $38 value online, including all ticketing fees).

In 1947, the North Carolina Museum of Art made its initial acquisition, hauling in 139 works of European and American art purchased with state funds. In the 65 years since, the museum’s collection has continued to balloon, and today features pieces that range from Egyptian funerary art to sculpture and vase paintings from Greece and Rome. The 164-acre campus surrounds visitors with creativity around every corner, including across the museum park, where more than a dozen works showcase inspirations that were culled from the natural world or extracted from the brains of scarecrows who donated their bodies to science.

During summer months, the Arts in the Museum Park festival series organizes week after week of music and film events. On the weekends, rather than sewing their socks together, siblings can get closer with Family Fun Saturdays. Free guided tours weave guests through the museum’s halls daily. Visits can be capped off with a stop at the museum gift shop or at the elegant Iris restaurant, which dishes out contemporary American cuisine with regional and international twists.

There are numerous times in life when it’s not appropriate to storm off to the mountains for adventure and stress relief. Work, family, and co-dependent penguins often keep us committed to life in one place. The climbing center at Vertical Edge provides all the challenge and fun of actual mountain climbing without the distance and dangers of a real rockface. Under the skilled tutelage of trained instructors, you'll get a lesson on basic climbing techniques, including the fine art of belaying another climber (to avoid such accidents as witnessed on playgrounds when itinerant sumo wrestlers attempt to see-saw with toddlers). After your lesson, you can stick around the massive facility and belay or climb for as long as your want, then return for any full additional day with equipment and admission included. With over 8,500 square feet of climbable surfaces to choose from, including a bouldering cave and 20 leadable routes, there’s no shortage of learning opportunities available.

The sound of swooshing nets fills the rafters of the PNC Arena as the NCAA women's basketball tournament shuffles into the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds, pinning the Raleigh Division's top remaining teams against each other in a do-or-die sprint toward the Final Four. Rather than getting pelted with constant shots while reclining in the backboards' cozy round hammocks, hoops fans can perch in 100-level seats to witness the on-court madness, which has already seen the 13th-seeded Marist Red Foxes bust brackets by ousting fourth-seeded Georgia in the opening round. The Elite Eight game on March 27 will crown a regional champion, sending them on a trip to the national semifinal in Denver, where the Kingston Region's own victor awaits the chance to play rock-paper-scissors for a coveted spot in the title game.

As a young girl, Boni Arendt was rarely found not fiddling with pencils, paintbrushes, and canvases. Her enthusiasm for creating inimitable works of art was brought into focus when she began honing her skills with formal education in the ‘80s, focusing her studies on painting and drawing techniques before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from East Carolina University. Arendt’s journey to find her artistic voice led her to the U.K., where she tried her hand at interdisciplinary design, photography, and faking an English accent. Since then, she’s showcased her works at numerous exhibitions around the globe and opened Red Rooster Gallery in 2007.

At her homey studio and gift shop, Arendt shares the knowledge she gained throughout her many travels with aspiring artists of all ages during her private painting and drawing lessons. She also curates a selection of decorative items and art supplies for sale and produces highly realistic pencil drawings for commission.:m]]

Located a stone’s throw from Symphony Lake, Koka Booth Amphitheatre emerges out of 14 acres of hardwoods and pines to offer up its stage to traveling national acts, theatrical productions, and movie screenings. Although its wood and earth-toned beams camouflage the venue within its natural surroundings, passersby can notice its sleek exterior glistening in the moonlight during nighttime performances. The outdoor amphitheater––designed by William Rawn Associates of Boston, which also constructed the Cambridge Public Library––seats up to 7,000 people on its spacious lawn, crescent deck, or loft bird nests.