A Night at Discovery Place

by Brittany Dixon on May 11, 2012 · 17 comments

Last night the time finally came to hire our first nighttime babysitter. Someone that would have to give Hailey a bottle and tell her good night. Although it was difficult to leave (and I wrote down every tiny detail and about 15 phone numbers), it was so great to attend the Mixology event at Discovery Place in Charlotte.

uptown charlotte

Driving into the city always gets me so excited! I can’t imagine how I’ll feel if I ever see New York.

Discovery Place Mixology- pre-event

David and I arrived early to wander around. I’m so glad we did because I got to meet and pet Princess, a rainbow boa constrictor. She was described as feeling like an expensive purse, though John said they’d never do that!

Discovery Place Mixology- Princess the snake

Finally the event began and started off with David speaking to the crowd while I awkwardly stood behind him grinning like a cheese ball. (I’m not disappointed I don’t have a picture of that!)

Discovery Place Mixology- David Dixon

Mixology crowd

David and I both really love Discovery Place and their mission. They take the intimidating subjects of science and math and make them enthralling with hands-on exhibits, experiments and plenty of fun creatures to look at.

Discovery Place Mixology- jelly fish

Maybe I’m a big nerd, but I think we need to start making smart cool again and get rid of the educational apathy that has perforated our younger generations. I know that is a blanket statement and that many young people are brilliant and driven, but I only want the future of our nation to keep getting better and brighter, especially now that I know Hailey will be living in it.

This Discovery Place Mixology event was pretty amazing. Groups circulated around to different stations. Each station had a science experiment, a specialty drink and a bite to eat. Each experiment was sponsored by a different restaurant.

Discovery Place Mixology- liquid nitrogen

The food was delicious.

Discovery Place Mixology- fried green tomato sliders

Fried green tomato sliders from Something Classic Catering.

Discovery Place Mixology- Something Classic Catering

And the drinks were flowing! There were craft beers, wine and specialty drinks made with FUZE, an event sponsor.

Discovery Place Mixology- FUZE mixed drink

This delightful mini-martini was made with FUZE Slenderize Cranberry Raspberry, Triple Sec and champagne!

To satisfy the sweet tooth? How about treats from Cupcrazed? The winners of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars? Yes, that’s the one!

Discovery Place Mixology- Heather Cupcrazed

Heather’s mini cupcakes were amazing! The glowed under black light! How? Well, tonic water glows in black light, so she added some to her buttercream frosting, and magic happened! She also used a little vodka, so it was like a vodka tonic, glowing cupcake.

Discovery Place Mixology- cupcrazed tonic icing

Is that not the coolest dessert you’ve ever heard of??

Also at the station was an adult scorpion. All scorpions glow under black lights, too.

Mixology Discovery Place- glowing scorpion

Scientists still aren’t sure why.

It was Discovery Place’s first event like this, and it was a huge success! Hopefully there will be similar events in the future. David and I even got a quick sneak peak behind the scenes with John Mackay, Discovery Place President and CEO.

Discovery Place Mixology- behind the scenes with John Mackay

Great photography, no? Clearly I was a bit too excited to see all the fish, frogs and jelly fish and 2 FUZE cocktails deep. Interesting fact: Discovery Place grows all their own coral and jelly fish. They are actually working on growing their own living coral reef and they are 2 years into the 3 year project. I can’t wait to see it!

Discovery Place Mixology- growing own coral

We had such an amazing time and I even got to meet a blog reader. Hi Emily! You made my night! Thanks for saying hello Smile

I loved sipping, snacking, socializing and learning. I was even taken by an exhibit on combustion engines, two words that would usually put me to sleep. However, science in application is pretty neat.

Discovery Place Mixology- combustion engine

I guess you can tell that I’m pretty passionate about what Discovery Place offers. I highly encourage you to visit if you’re in the area and check out their website to learn more or to get involved!

What is a cause you are passionate about?

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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

Tricia O. May 11, 2012 at 9:22 am

It was a great event, and I was so glad to see you!

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Brittany May 11, 2012 at 9:33 am

It was great! And I’m glad I got to see you, too. Wish we could have chatted for longer…and I could have snagged another cake pop ;)

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Logan Stewart May 11, 2012 at 9:49 am

Brittany – what an awesome post! I just shared this with everyone. Thanks so much for all you do for Discovery Place — we appreciate you!

Logan Stewart
Manager, Marketing & PR
Discovery Place, Inc.

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Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) May 11, 2012 at 10:17 am

Looks like a lot of fun! I agree with your “blanket statement” on education as well. :)

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Jen May 11, 2012 at 11:17 am

You look so pretty! I love Cupcrazed. I did not know that about tonic water, too cool.

Did H do OK w/ the sitter?

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Brittany May 13, 2012 at 9:18 am

She did great! (as far as I know). The sitter text me at 7 saying she just put her down and she almost drank all of her bottle, and H was in one happy piece when I saw her in the morning, so I am guessing all went well. Next time I want to set up a nanny cam ;)

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Tiff @ Love Sweat and Beers May 11, 2012 at 11:41 am

Yup, you are a nerd. Only joking – that looks like a really fun event. (Then again, this is coming from a self-proclaimed nerd.)

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Sam @ Fit for My Fork May 11, 2012 at 1:58 pm

Wow, glow in the dark cupcakes? That’s the kind of science I like best! :) This place sounds pretty awesome!

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Lisa May 11, 2012 at 4:21 pm

That looks so awesome! I am such a science nerd, so I enjoyed all those facts :) How interesting. We have science world over in Vancouver, and I absolutely love it there. So much fun!

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Lee May 12, 2012 at 7:01 am

Very cool. I used to love going to the Baltimore Science Museum when I was a kid. It was my favorite museum by far.

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Matt @ The Athlete's Plate May 12, 2012 at 7:44 pm

Sounds like a great event!

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Anne Kendall May 13, 2012 at 8:36 pm

I really liked this post. I’m all about trying new things and seeing things from a different perspective — like science. It didn’t particularly fascinate me, until I visited the Science Museum of VA and the Children’s Museum of VA as a young girl. Educational and entertaining!

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Emily May 17, 2012 at 3:33 pm

It was so wonderful to meet you!! I loved your recap of the event :) I’m glad to hear everything went well with the sitter!! Enjoy your weekend!

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Nicole @ Fruit 'N' Fitness February 2, 2013 at 3:15 pm

The tonic and scorpion glowing in black light…. I had no idea, thats really cool!! II would love to go to discovery palace!

How did Hailey do with her first night time babysitter?
Nicole @ Fruit ‘N’ Fitness recently posted..Bluegrass Here I ComeMy Profile

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