It’s almost August. Hard to believe. How can the summer be passing so quickly?

The beginning of August signals the beginning of the end of summer vacation, but instead of getting sad, I’m choosing joy! Over the course of the next three weeks, since that’s what we have before our daughter goes back to school, I want to have some fun, so I’ve made an End of Summer Bucket List. I plan to end the summer with some fun! We can’ t go on another vacation, because high school sports are starting, but we can do some fun local stuff. Maybe you’ll get some ideas for your own list.

• Visit Carowinds or another amusement park (maybe Six Flags over Georgia) for some rollercoaster fun. We used to go to Carowinds all the time during the summer, but as our daughter has gotten older, we don’t go as often. Does that mean I don’t love rollercoasters? Heck no! Let’s go ride the Fury! See the website here. Or the website for Six Flags Over Georgia here.
• Rent an electric kick scooter in uptown Charlotte and explore uptown on two wheels. There are three scooter companies, and you can rent by downloading the apps. Download Lime, Spin, or Bird…or maybe all three…and find a scooter. You can scoot all over town!
• See a classic film (or two) on the big screen. In conjunction with Fathom, Turner Classic Movies present Big Screen Classics in theaters. For August, the featured films are The Big Lebowski 20th Anniversary event  (Aug 5 & 8) and South Pacific 60th Anniversary event  (Aug 26 and 29). For more info, click here.
• Have a mother/daughter staycation in a local hotel for one night. This is something we have done before, and we usually go to the Ballantyne Hotel. They offer balconies overlooking the golf course, in room dining, afternoon tea, swimming pools, a great spa, and a great restaurant called Gallery. Rates vary based on availability. There are other great hotels in the Charlotte area, as well, and other cities have their fair share of hotels that are good for staycations. For info on the Ballantyne, click here.
• Revisit the US National Whitewater Center (or another outdoor center if you live somewhere else). I used to go all the time, but we haven’t been this summer. Before the chill sets in, it could be a lot of fun to go out on the river on a Stand Up Paddleboard. For info on the Whitewater Center, click here.
• Box up any children’s books we have left in the old upstairs playroom and donate them to a friend who has just taken a job as a librarian at a school that needs books.
• Get together for coffee/wine with some friends/moms who have rising 9th graders before school starts…we might need to do this more than once.
• Visit Pinky’s Westside Grill on Morehead in Charlotte. How have I never been there? A friend sent me a message last week telling me I had to go to Pinky’s, so now it’s on my End of Summer Bucket List. See the Facebook page here.
• Spend a few hours of each remaining week out by the pool or at our club pool. All that sunshine helps the body produce Vitamin D, and lots of Vitamin D means more energy and better moods.
• Get a back-to-school pedicure with friends right before school starts…maybe while our kids are at orientation.
• Go to the Hounds Drive-In in Kings Mountain (click here) or the Sunset Drive-In in Shelby (click here)with friends and kids to watch a movie from the comfort of my SUV or from the tailgate. Grab some popcorn and sodas from the concession stand and enjoy! My friend, Jennifer, and I took our girls to a drive-in movie in Hyde Park, New York, a few years ago, and they loved it. Maybe I should say I forced them all to go, but afterward, they were glad they did. We had a great time. When I asked my daughter afterward if it was what she thought it would be, she said it wasn’t; apparently, before we went, she thought they would give us iPads, so we could watch the movie in the car. She’d had n idea how a drive-in movie worked. I used to go to the drive-in as a little girl, but Jennifer and the girls had never been before that visit.                                             
• Squeeze in a day trip here and there when possible. My daughter might think I’m crazy, but here are some ideas: Happy Hills Alpaca Farm in Monroe (click here), Biltmore Estate in Asheville (click here), sunflower fields on the Biltmore grounds, Davis General Store on Old Statesville Road (click here), or find some options on the Roadside America app OR the Charlotte Adventure Map (purchase here). I don’t have the Charlotte Adventure Map in hand yet, but as soon as I receive it this week, it’s on! My poor daughter and some of her friends will be dragged all over town to see stuff we didn’t even know about before.

With August 1 approaching, it’s time to hit the ground running. Only a little more time for some summer fun, and I plan to enjoy it as much as possible. Even if my daughter doesn’t think the alpaca farm sounds like fun, she’ll look back on it later and laugh.

What’s on your End of Summer Bucket List?

Three weeks…go!