Chances are likely that if you’re vacationing in Sunset Beach, NC, you’re planning to spend lots of time outside on the beach or by the resort pool. Sometimes, though, your plans get thrown off by a rainy day. Sometimes you just need to get the kids somewhere cooler for a while, or you just want to learn some interesting facts about the area you’re in. This is when museums become an excellent idea, and the Sunset Beach area boasts three: the North Carolina Maritime Museum, the Museum of Coastal Carolina, and the Ingram Planetarium. Between these three options, you can definitely find something that the family will love.

The North Carolina Maritime Museum, as you can probably guess, collects artifacts and information about the maritime history of the Carolina Coastline. It’s a great place to take little boys and girls who love ships, but it has plenty of interesting exhibits for adults, as well. This museum is a great place to get a special souvenir for your trip, since it has an entire gift shop full of ship models.

Whereas the Maritime Museum focuses heavily on the ships of North Carolina and has some information about coastal animals, the Museum of Coastal Carolina on Ocean Isle Beach has lots of information about coastal animals and a bit of information about ships. At this hands-on museum, kids can touch and help feed animals that naturally live on the coast where they’re staying. They can also enjoy short presentations by museum staff about various animals of the coastline.

For a totally different experience, try the Ingram Planetarium. It was actually founded by the same family that started the Coastal Carolina Museum, but it offers a totally different learning experience. The museum has plenty of hands on activities for kids and adults both, and it has lots of events scheduled throughout the year for visitors and residents of the area.