Things to Do in Murray

The fully renovated Gallivan Center presents visitors with year-round entertainment opportunities, including cultural events, concerts, and festivals. Come wintertime, the center opens up its outdoor skating rink—a rink twice the size of its predecessor. There, skaters glide around throughout the holiday season and, during breaks from the ice, can fuel up with snacks such as hot chocolate and nachos from the rink’s concession stand.

The Front Climbing Club has attracted a crew of passionate setters and climbers with various outdoor-climbing experience, earned while climbing around the world. The staff brings this knowledge to its route setting, filling the 10,000-square-foot space with bouldering routes and top-roping walls that will boggle the mind and body like a kiss from Albert Einstein. Instructors lead these climbing and bouldering classes as well as training sessions, either teaching the fundamentals or helping attendees of virtually any age and skill level master more advanced techniques. Also offered are yoga classes and a full array of strength and cardio equipment, which can provide year-round conditioning training. The Front runs afterschool kids’ programs and camps, helping young climbers hone skills needed for teamwork and concentration. The club's pro shop also keeps visitors prepared for climbing excursions by allowing them to stock up on specialty supplies, including rock shoes, ropes, alpine and ice gear, and training equipment.

A true polymath, Leonardo da Vinci was never content learning a single subject at a time. Leonardo’s expertise is renowned, as he honed his mind as an artist, scientist, inventor, and mutant ninja. In this same spirit, The Leonardo, his namesake museum, explores the ways that science, technology, art, and creativity connect. Each day, its exhibits bustle with activity as visitors examine thought-provoking installations, experiment with hands-on activities, and participate in ever-changing workshops.

The Dynamic Performance of Nature exhibit, for example, is a giant sine curve made of solar-powered LEDs that stretches the length of room. It flashes and changes its color in response to real-world factors such as solar radiation, humidity, and pollution. Artists, inventors, and other innovative thinkers work within the Lab@Leo, where they help museum guests make creative projects out of different materials. Some of the museum's other exhibits include I.D.: What Makes You, You?, which explores our genetic origins, and Render, where visitors can create their own short animated films.

Birdman Academy takes its name from the pseudonym of its founder, Kevin Koonce. The Birdman estimates that he has trained thousands of hang-gliding lessons, and during that time he’s taught nearly 8,000 first-timers. Currently, he nests at Point of the Mountain, a spot known for what the Academy calls, "legendary conditions." This means consistently smooth winds, which are ideal for training new hang-gliders, paragliders, and baby pterodactyls recently thawed from blocks of prehistoric ice.

Alliance Theatre has staged ghost stories, fairy tales, and beloved Broadway musicals for more than four decades, earning it a Regional Theatre Tony Award for its memorable productions. Haled by ArtsATL.com as “an incredibly engaging and tightly focused evening at the theater,” I Just Stopped By to See the Man casts a mysterious pall over audiences with its tale of three characters seeking redemption. Accomplished musician and actor “Mississippi” Charles Bevel pours himself into the leading role of Jesse “The Man” Davidson, a legendary bluesman playing possum from fame while living in a shotgun shack with his daughter Della. Like Robert Johnson, Jesse is fabled to have traded his soul to the devil for his musical talents, which now collect dust while his guitar gently weeps. When Karl, a British rock star, hunts down “The Man” in hopes of learning from the master and luring him back to the stage, conflicts unfold and secrets are revealed. Brimming with authentic Delta blues songs and a surplus of wry wisdom, the intimate character study works its mojo on music fans and theater buffs alike.

Arabian horses are known for the strong bonds they form with their caretakers. Lashay Arabians’ owner, Lisa Park, can attest to that fact. Throughout her 22 years of horse training and riding, she always has cared for loving arabian steeds, and her stables house a number of arabian and arabian-mixed mounts. Flower, Lisa's 24-year-old mare, has been with her since before she began her career leading lessons of riding and jumping, and to this day still takes kids for trots around the farm while neighing about her favorite episode of Cheers.

Along with fellow trainer Leslee Pugh, Lisa leads lessons for students of all ages and skill levels that teach the art of horsemanship, from recreational riding to national-level showing to jumping and dressage. The team also assists riders in need by coaching them during events, transporting horses to and from locations, and leasing horses to those who want to ride more but are not ready to buy their own mount.