The Polar Express Part
Gaetan Boren
Great ideas ready for me next year as I am already planning (letting my imagination run) with ideas for my annual grandchildren christmas party which is going to be polar express, after which we are taking them to a steam train that puts on the polar express with actors in character and the telling of the story as they ride to the next station and Father Christmas gets on and gives them all the a bell made out of his sleigh ?
Love these great ideas, but i am hosting a Polar Express Part for 3 of my friends and I. We are all 15 years old. So everything I am finding online is usually meant for children. It is hard for me to find stuff for teenage girls.
After a wander around the fascinating town and dinner at The Seaport Hotel, one of the five restaurants in town, I went to bed at The Aurora Inn where I spent one night before I went to Seal River Lodge. The Aurora Inn has a sleeping loft, living room, and kitchenette. If you were staying in Churchill for any length of time, it is probably the best place to stay. I was not; I was off to take a short plane ride to Seal River Lodge, part of the adventure lodges of Churchillwild.com.
The plane ride was exhilarating! I sat behind Ursula and had a window seat. The Beaver is small, and all luggage has to be in a small, soft duffel. I wore a noise canceling headset. The person sitting next to the pilot was able to communicate with her through a microphone. The company she works for is Wings Over Kississing and does day tours. From a low altitude, I was astonished to see hundreds of white Beluga whales, similar to dolphins, only much bigger. They were swimming in the Seal River, many with young, light grey babies. Their annual migration happens because of the capelin, a fish that is similar to herring. I was told 3000 Belugas come into the river when it opens, meaning the ice has melted. It was mid July and it had just opened!
We were met on the dock by guides Andy and Terry, who were quickly getting us, our gear, and our provisions for the week out of the plane, while loading the passengers that were leaving the lodge. Smooth operation!
These guys were the real McCoy wilderness guides, rough and rugged, yet also warm and friendly. Kind of like a combination of Crocodile Dundee and Yogi Bear! For the next 6 days, they would impart their vast knowledge of polar bears, birds (there are over 250 species!), Beluga whales, arctic wild flowers, pioneer history, and just about everything to do with the sub-arctic region I was exploring.
Polar bear attacks on humans are rare in Churchill and since 1984 it has been illegal to hunt them worldwide. However, Inuit people are given several hunting permits each year, and sadly, some are sold to wealthy jerks to trophy hunt. The Inuit people make a substantial amount from this, but it would hardly be a challenge to shoot one of the bears we got so close to. I hope world consciousness is changing towards treasuring our wild animals in their environment, and the barbaric thinking of our past is behind us. The bears have a hard enough time just surviving.
Train A has our only Parlor Class car. Train A and Train B have Standard Coach, Deluxe Coach, and First Class table seating. Trains run at different times, but the performance is the same on either train. More details about service classes can be found below or by clicking here: www.nctransportationmuseum.org/polar-express-faq
The above images are representative examples showing the types of seating available. Each train car and its decorations will vary. The NC Transportation Museum can make no guarantee regarding any specific train car used for each level of service.
Passengers receive hot cocoa (served in a quality paper cup), a cookie, a silver sleigh bell, and a golden ticket. Standard Class is coach seating in padded seats without a table. Each person aged 2 and up requires a seat.
Passengers receive hot cocoa served in a keepsake tumbler, a treat bag, a cookie, a silver sleigh bell, and a golden ticket. Deluxe Class is coach seating in padded seats without a table. Each person aged 2 and up requires a seat.
Two trains run simultaneously, departing at different times. Both trains offer the same quality of performances, with amenities being different in each seating class as noted in the Class Descriptions section above.
This magical holiday event takes place at the N.C. Transportation Museum, 1 Samuel Spencer Drive, Spencer, N.C. The museum is located approximately halfway between Charlotte and Greensboro just off Interstate 85 in Rowan County, N.C.
You can earn complimentary tickets by booking your overnight stay in a participating Rowan County Lodging property. Pay careful attention to the new process, as well as the terms and conditions prior to booking your lodging. Polar Express Package sales begin June 6, 2024 at 9 a.m. Each event weekend has a different deadline, please visit the Rowan County Tourism website for deadlines.
MEMBER PRESALE: Lifetime, Family Platinum, and Family Premium members of the N.C. Transportation Museum will be able to book tickets beginning June 4 at 9 a.m. All other N.C. Transportation Museum members will be able to book tickets beginning June 5 at 9 a.m. For those who are not members as of the May 1, 2024 deadline, tickets will be available beginning June 8 at 9 a.m. There will NOT be an option to select the special offer for members on 6/4 or 6/5 when booking your hotel. Please book your hotel using the booking widget below, then call the ticketing center at 704-469-5231. Once they verify your membership, they will add the special offer to your reservation and provide you with your code or gift certificate. Please have your hotel reservation information ready.
Questions regarding Overnight Stay & Play Package? Contact the Rowan County Tourism office at 1-800-332-2343, 704-638-3100, or visit their website. These packages are offered exclusively by Rowan County Tourism and all arrangements must be made per Rowan County Tourism procedures, terms, and conditions.
The N.C. Transportation Museum is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and a state historic site. The N.C. Transportation Museum Foundation is a 5013C non-profit group that provides support for preservation efforts and educational programs at the museum.
Host your own In Real Life or Virtual Christmas Murder Mystery game night with this office Christmas Train game. Taking inspiration from train murders and the polar express, our host your own murder mystery game kit is perfect for a night in with family, a dinner party game with friends or a team building exercise over Zoom for colleagues.
You must purchase the license with the game you intend on using it for. If you have already purchased the game individually please purchase this again with the license and we will refund your original order.
Every year, I swear I'm going to take part in the annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip at Coney Island, and every year, I don't. But this year, I finally mustered up the will power and dove into the freezing Atlantic. I had no idea what to expect going in so wanted to write up a few tips for fellow first-timers. It's absolutely awesome, by the way, and everyone should do it at least once.
To swim, there's a suggested $20 donation to Camp Sunshine, a retreat in Maine for kids with life-threatening illnesses and their families. You can choose either to register online or show up and pay on New Year's day.
If you register online, you'll save tons of time on the day of the swim; we signed in without any real line at the express registration table, while the day-of folks stood in a seemingly endless line. In addition, if you're the type who is likely to bail at the last minute (like me), signing up ahead of time is a great way to ensure you actually make it down to Coney Island.
Line up some friends! I was planning on doing the dip alone, but it was way, way better to have a bunch of people to get psyched with. If you can, try and bribe someone to be your beach buddy and hang out while you're in the corral before the swim; they'll make sure your bag and towel don't disappear and also be able to take pictures of you running like an idiot into the ocean.
Watch some videos! I didn't do this, but since there's so little out there about the logistics of the event, it'll do a lot to help you understand what's going on. YouTube has a million and one videos, from first-person dives to the ubiquitous newscasters.
Our registration email suggested arriving at 11am for a 1pm swim, but even if you get there closer to 12pm, like we did, you'll still be hanging around on the boardwalk for a good long while. While you're waiting, there're plenty of places to grab coffee and hot chocolate to keep you warm along with lots of amazing costumes, so you won't be bored.
For me, the worst part was starting to take off those many layers on the beach. It's windy down there, and you go from being cozy to numb almost instantly. The Polar Bear Club recommends you bring a pair of shoes to wear in the water because your feet numb up so quickly that you won't know if you've stepped on something terrible. I wasn't really in the water long enough for that to matter, but it's a good tip.
Like most things that involve anticipated physical pain, the actual experience is way easier than you think it will be. We lined up in the corral around 12:50, and after lots of group jumping and clapping, we were in the water. It was over before we even knew it. The water wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it might be (water temp was 41 degrees, air temp around 30).
Then you're back on the beach, where everyone is taking a photo of you, and you're desperately trying to find your towel. We stumbled back up to the boardwalk to get changed as quickly as possible, so it's fair to say I don't remember a whole lot from this point.
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