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).

Triangle Rock Club's, awarded with the 2013 Pinnacle Business Award, state-of-the-art facility houses more than 9,000 square feet of expertly crafted terrain with upward of 100 routes. During small-size classes, drop-in sessions, and rock-climbing camps, novice and seasoned climbers scale freestanding boulders, dodging manmade obstacles while gripping the wall's slanted surface. Founded by two former Marines, Triangle Rock Club offers customers a large fitness center where guests can complement climbing's full-body workout with weights, kettlebells, squat racks, and spontaneous arm-wrestling matches. Other amenities include a climate-controlled interior and a lounge with WiFi and an HDTV.

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.

Rather than relying on lecture and stuffy articles, Imagination Station Science Museum engages visitors of all ages in the sciences with a range of dynamic exhibits and interactive programs. The museum—housed in Wilson's former federal post office and courthouse—thrills guests with rotating displays as well as 22 permanent exhibits. These hands-on galleries house the Human Dynamo, which lets visitors see how their own bodies conduct electricity, Pulleys and Levers, which demonstrate how simple machines help left heavy weights, and Animal Collections, which includes live specimens such as turtles and albino lizards. A range of educational programs such as field trips, themed science day camps, and science demonstrations complement these exhibits. The interactive center is also a resource for local information—exhibits in the upstairs North Carolina Museum of the Coastal Plain detail local history and culture.

Formed in 2010 by merging the region's best opera talent into a single company, the North Carolina Opera pairs an internationally acclaimed cast with a full orchestra in its engaging, modern rendition of Gounod's Faust. Director James Marvel's innovative staging sets the stage aflicker in original video projections, which incorporate English supertitles that immerse audiences in the meaning of the French libretto. Tenor Dimitri Pittas, who has sung key roles with the Vienna State Opera and Metropolitan Opera, plays the eponymous scholar who trades his soul for the promise of youth, riches, pleasure, and unlimited soda refills offered by the devious Mephistopheles, devilishly embodied by Lyric Opera Center alumnus Christian Van Horn. The impassioned music and tragic action swirl around Mary Dunleavy as poor maiden Marguerite, who'll sing with formidable sopranic power. Meymandi Concert Hall's orchestra-level seats and warm, clear acoustics throughout afford prime views and excellent ear-views of the sweeping symphonic action.

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.