BCCC extends deadline to sign up for trip to see Lion King | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The Beaufort County Community College Foundation has extended the deadline for accepting reservations for an overnight trip that will include a performance of a beloved Disney musical, “The Lion King,” and a visit to the North Carolina Zoo. The new deadline has been extended to Friday, Jan. 7.

    The trip, scheduled for Jan. 14 to Jan. 15, will include a performance of the award-winning show "The Lion King" at the Durham Performing Arts Center, an overnight stay at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Durham, as well as a tour and special presentation at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro.

    The price of the trip is $330 per person for BCCC students, staff, faculty, alumni or Foundation donors; and $380 for all others. The price includes transportation, three meals (dinner, breakfast and lunch), tips, a double room at the hotel, orchestra seats for the DPAC performance and a tour of the African animals at the N.C. Zoo.

    The trip is scheduled to depart the BCCC administration parking lot at 1 p.m. on Jan. 14 and return at about 7 p.m. on Jan. 15.

    Participants will arrive at the Durham Marriott in time to relax before having dinner at Chamas Churrascaria at Brightleaf Square. Chamas is Portuguese for "flames." Churrascaria is the name used to describe a restaurant that serves meat, mostly grilled. Servers come to each diner with skewered cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken and other meats in succession. The buffet table offers a tremendous array of salads, side dishes and desserts for an unforgettable dining experience.

    After dinner, participants will attend a production of "The Lion King." This is Disney's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical that Newsweek called "a landmark event in entertainment." The visually stunning, technically astounding production features giraffes that strut, birds that swoop and gazelles that leap. The entire savannah comes to life; and as the music soars, Pride Rock slowly emerges from the mist. The animals are brought to life by a cast of more than 40 actors. The musical score includes Elton John's and Tim Rice's Oscar-winning songs "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life."

    Saturday morning at 9 a.m., after a full buffet breakfast at the hotel, the group will depart for the N.C. Zoo. Located just south of Asheboro, the North Carolina Zoo is sited on a 1,500-acre tract of land in the Uwharrie Mountains. Approximately 500 acres of this property have been developed into one of the largest "natural habitat" zoos in the United States.

    Once at the zoo, the group will be joined by Steve Gerkin, the zoo's Visitor Educator and Public Programs Coordinator. Gerkin will provide a special presentation on African animals in the Stedman Education Building. Zoo trams or buses will then drive the group around the African animal exhibit - including the lemur exhibit, which opened in 2008.

    After the tour, trip participants will be treated to an African-themed lunch prepared by chef Bruce Enteen. The menu includes winter salad, Ghana jollof rice, African spiced chicken, fried plantains, strawberry fave, peachy mango and orange lemonade, water and coffee. Following lunch, the tour will leave Asheboro at 3 p.m. for the trip home.

    For more information about this trip, interested persons may contact BCCC Foundation Director Judy Jennette at 252-940-6326 or judyj@beaufortccc.edu; or Marcia Norwood at 252-940-6218 or marcian@beaufortccc.edu.