This Land, Your Land

If you have kids out of school on Monday and need something worthwhile to keep them occupied, consider the North Carolina Aquariums, where the branches at Fort Fisher and Roanoke Island are waiving admission fees for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Normally, admission to the aquariums is $6 for ages 6 to 17, $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and free for those younger than 6.

The Fort Fisher aquarium is next to the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area and just down the street from the Fort Fisher State Historic Site.

Fort Fisher was a major Civil War fortress, keeping North Carolina's port of Wilmington open to blockade-runners that supplied necessary goods to Confederate armies inland. The historic site presents a state-of-the-art museum and ruins of the fort.