Ice Skating at Triangle SportsPlex

What it is:  Since it's winter, our family was in the mood for a little winter fun this weekend.  You can't much more wintery than ice skating, so we headed out to Hillsborough to Triangle Sportsplex.  Triangle Sportsplex is a great sports complex that has the ice rink, a swimming pool, and workout facilities.  This time, however, our focus was the ice.

We looked up their hours, and turns our the skating was open from 1-5pm on Sunday.  We got there a little early, and once we navigated our way through the traffic from a swim meet, we headed in to the ice rink and the boys got to watch the end of a youth hockey match.  The hockey was fun to watch, but the boys were ready to skate!  We paid our money at the front desk of the sports plex and then headed in to the ice rink to get our skates.  Fortunately, they run as small as a youth size 8, so our little 2.5 year old was in luck.  The greatest part is that they have these plastic trainers that look like little walkers.  You could pay a little money and get one of those for your kiddos.

So, we had our skates, we had our trainer, we were ready to get out there.  Our little ones definitely required the help of the wall or mom and dad's arms, but they were loving every minute of it.  Then, we added in the little trainer and even our littlest one could just cruise around the ice with a little guidance for steering.  After a while, they even dimmed the lights and put on music and fancy lights.  The kids thought the lights on the ice were really fun.  My youngest lasted for 45 minutes and my oldest for over an hour before they wore out, so I would say we definitely got our money's worth.

What we liked:  Since it was something different for them, the boys were really excited and had a great time! There was a nice crowd of people out on the rink which made for a fun atmosphere.  Plus, the plastic trainers were such a great addition for the little ones.  The trainers made them confident, independent, and willing to head out on their own.

What we would change: The biggest negative is the cost of the whole outing.  It was definitely a bit of a special occasion for us.  The admission was $5 for the kiddos and $6 for the adults.  The skate rentals were $3 per person, and the walker was $5 to rent.  From South Durham, The Triangle Sportsplex in Hillsborough was a bit far away at about half an hour drive time, but from the Duke area it was really only about 15 miles away.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.trianglesportsplex.com/

Address: 101 Meadowlands Dr., Hillsborough, NC 27278

Hours: Skating hours vary and can be found on their website.

Photos: 

(the ice rink)

(Some skaters with and without the walkers.)