Things to Do in Pennsville

Up to 23 rounds burst through a barricade as a haze of bullets chases its retreating target. Though it sounds like a scene from an action movie, Shooter's Choice hosts such sequences every Thursday night at its charity tournaments. The evenings have raised large donations for Delaware Hospice and the Kent County SPCA. By day, the indoor, electronically controlled range challenges marksmen with two different five-position ranges with targets anywhere from 50 to 75 feet away.

For visitors craving more training before pulling the trigger, Shooter's Choice's NRA-certified instructors teach one-on-one lessons or group courses geared toward such topics as firearm safety and home protection. In addition to its stock of novelty Zombie Max ammo and shotguns that shoot BB guns, the pro shop's staff pairs patrons with a range of firearms, cleaning supplies, magazines, and range bags.

From a total of 12 shops on both sides of the Atlantic, Potomac Bead Company supplies the artistically inclined with everything they need to craft DIY accessories, ranging from the elegantly simple to the intricate and ornate. Beads, wiring, ribbons, and other materials are peddled wholesale, while regular jewelry-making classes educate first-timers, preventing them from accidentally crafting a magical Lasso of Truth instead of a necklace. Though the teachers recommend starting at the most basic level and working up, customers may attend any class, taking advantage of literally endless possibilities for personalized bangles, chokers, and earrings.

Although Sightseer Whale & Dolphin Trips continues an almost 70-year tradition of chartering sightseers out to sea in search of wildlife, oceanography isn’t its only passion. The company also holds in high regard the patriotism and courageousness displayed by our nation's armed forces, honoring all active members of the military and their immediate families with complimentary tours through aqueous avenues. Each two- to three-hour voyage brings up to 187 guests in close quarters with the Atlantic Ocean's splash-happy mammals while a knowledgeable biologist narrates the tour. The company's cruise boat manned by seasoned captains boasts both shaded and sunny areas, and summertime travelers can count on a refreshing ocean breeze to keep them cool.

Bright lights emblazon the adjoining boardwalk of The Palace of Sweets, beckoning passersby inside for fun-filled challenges and the sugary outflow of towering candy dispensers. Devised by world-renowned maze designer Adrian Fisher, the fun center's one-of-a-kind maze envelops guests into its candy-decor depths with a disorienting array of mirrors and surprise reunions with your long-lost twin. After regaining bearings, guests can test their agility in the center's laser challenge, which sends lasers zooming through the room as they try to make their way to the other side unscathed. Known for sporting the largest selection of self-serve candy on the boardwalk, The Palace of Sweets serves as a well-stocked host for birthday parties or a press conference announcing the end of dieting.

Though she worked as a graphic designer for more than 35 years, Tara M. Smith never considered herself an artist until she opened The Uncorked Artist, a casual salon where artists and locals of all experience levels come together to paint, drink, and unwind. The welcoming studio is stocked with all the painting essentials: smocks, brushes, canvases, paints, and bowls of fruit trying to launch their modeling careers. Though the studio does schedule open painting time, its staff of artists also leads painting classes, camps, and parties for adults and kids.

Taking over Morey's Piers & Beachfront Waterparks for the weekends of October, Morey’s Fears Terror on the Boardwalk shoots chills down unsuspecting spines with five frightful attractions. Terror Trench dares scare-seekers to venture beneath the park into a noxious pit inhabited by the mutant mole progeny of waterpark construction workers lost decades ago. Those brave enough to tiptoe through The Other Side might lock eyes with the ghosts of souls lost at sea as they roam under the Wildwood boardwalk, and the CornStalkers maze threatens guests with supernatural dangers from the countryside, such as killer scarecrows and murderous corn subsidies. Modeled out of a multilevel miniature-golf course, Ghost Ship 2.0 ensconces landlubbers on a decaying vessel haunted by mad sailors and spooky ghouls, and CarnEvil infects the park's regular attractions with a macabre atmosphere, replacing the regular barkers with sinister clowns.