Mount Airy ---things for kids to do? (Raleigh, Winston-Salem: theatre, high school) - City-Data Forum

nursemomwaldorf · 09-02-2006, 06:51 AM

Hi! I am rather new to this site and am looking for information on Mount Airy. It seems like a nice, quiet town. I have read that "the kids will be bored". Are there any organized sports in the summer? Little league, soccer? Are there sports teams in the school system? What can you tell me about the school systems besides the stats I can get on the internet? Any info you could offer would be appreciated. Thanks!

RaleighRob · 09-02-2006, 01:10 PM

I have no ideas about activities for small kids, but it's when they hit the teens you should be very concerned about.

Small towns in NC tend to have teens that get in even more trouble than those in the cities. I grew up on the edge of Winston-Salem, and we'd very often see on the weekends these trucks and jeeps of guys and gals from Mt.Airy that would Speed down US52 (like 80mph) down to Winston to do all their hanging out and getting in trouble. They'd do things that us who lived there usually didn't, because it was their "escape" to getaway from the small town. (It wasn't just Mt.Airy teens...Yadkinville, Mocksville, and others from Northwestern NC all flocked there.) Pregnant girls hanging out of the back of a pickup truck smoking, guys playing games with their knives...all hanging out at the Walmart parking lot or a fast food joint or movie theatre.
Ah....redneck town teenagers. Definitely a staple of small town NC no doubt about it.

nursemomwaldorf · 09-03-2006, 08:33 AM

Thanks Raleigh Rob for your perspective on small town living. I guess I had not thought of it in that way. You have given us more to think about. It seems like maybe Mooresville might be a better option for us. We will be visiting in early October. Does anyone have any thoughts on "must see" things in that area? Thanks!

opstand · 09-03-2006, 09:03 PM

I went to high school in that area, Pilot Mountain to be exact (although my mailing address was Mt. Airy). There is not much for kids to do. I was bored a lot as a high schooler. If your kids don't / can't have a car, it will be torture as everything is very spread out.

The schools are very into sports, at least mine was. They aren't large so it's great if your kids are decent at their sport but not a star...they'll still probably get to play.

The scenery is one of the few saving graces of the area. With Pilot Mountain so close, you always have a good mountain view. It's a great area for hiking and camping as well if you are into that.

Otherwise there isn't a lot of varied culture in the area. The downtown Mt Airy area is nice and quaint, but you will run out of things to do quickly. As for the kids, the most popular thing to do when I was in high school was to "cruise" highway 601, basically showing off their cars and finding creative ways to get in trouble.

nursemomwaldorf · 09-04-2006, 10:20 AM

Thanks for your input opstand! We have decided that Mt. Airy is probably a little too small for us. We are now focusing our search towards the Mooresville, Huntersville, Cornelius areas. Any input on those areas would be appreciated! Thanks!