Smithfield, NC Outdoor Activities

• 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).

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.

The European-designed go-karts at RushHour Karting mean business. At no-nonsense speeds of up to 40 mph, they whip around a third-mile indoor track that remains open year round and boasts an observation deck and real pit lines. Overhead, digital projections display racers’ track times. Drivers refuel at The Pit Stop, where chef Merlin cooks up gourmet burgers, hot dogs, and salads and serves them amid the glow of seven high-definition plasmas and a 123" high-definition projector.

In 2002, Mike Southard took a leap of faith worthy of The Dukes of Hazzard. He left a career in the elevator industry and decided to pursue his true passion: stock-car driving. Southard launched Try It Racing and On Track Racing Experience, determined to share with others the thrill he had felt many times in the victory lane of late-model stock-car races. His business has grown from a few humble events and clients each year to a fully packed schedule at some of the country's longest running and most renowned racetracks. Some things haven't changed, however—you can still find Southard behind the wheel of the two-seat ride-along car, taking patrons around curves and straightaways at top speed.

Adrenaline fiends satisfy their cravings while driving or riding around tracks such as Orange County Speedway, where industry legends Jeff Gordon and Scott Riggs have burned their share of rubber. A professional photographer and in-car video cameras can capture the excitement at each event, memorializing guests' wide-open eyes, exhilarated smiles, and high-intensity games of I Spy.

Lunar Mini Golf's two 18-hole indoor courses whisks putters away to a black-lit labyrinth sculpted through a phosphorescent dreamscape of vibrant murals and neon obstacles. Tiny neon walls frame the pitch-black corridors of each hole, which gives the impression that patrons are rolling orbs across the rayless expanse of the cosmos or through their neighbors' radioactive crawlspaces. Clubbers clad in white will shine like gleaming apparitions as they read tricky breaks and keep the yips at bay, and Lunar Mini Golf offers glowing necklaces for clients to wear to capitalize on the visually mesmerizing lure of the black lights. Catering to large groups, Lunar Mini Golf also features a complimentary party zone available upon request for birthdays, corporate gatherings, and ceremonies unveiling new neon eyebrow tattoos.