16. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Cultural Feast

The cultural and educational offerings in the State Capital area will appeal to even the most sophisticated of visitors. Excellent history and natural science museums, the North Carolina Symphony, the North Carolina Museum of Art, Duke Gardens at Duke University and more great outings can keep interested visitors busy for weeks!


17. Cape Fear Coast

Historic Wilmington and the Cape Fear Coast islands of Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach offers one of the state’s largest historic districts (230 blocks!), uncrowded beaches, natural preserves and a regular watersports paradise. Take a ride on a riverboat, enjoy some fine dining, go beachcombing at sunset, or just enjoy the fresh sea breeze in this relaxing vacation area!


18. Blackbeard’s Ghost

North Carolina boasts some of the most famous ghosts and hauntings anywhere, but the most famous of them all is the notorious pirate Blackbeard. The historic town of Beaufort on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast offers a Ghost Walk Tour that takes visitors deep into the oldest parts of town to see haunted cemeteries and the famous Hammock House where Blackbeard is reputed to have hanged one of his 14 wives. A hair-raising experience!


19. NC’s Outer Banks

America’s first English settlement, the site of the Wright Brothers’ historic flight at Kitty Hawk, the nation’s first designated National Seashore at Cape Hatteras, and the country’s first outdoor drama. North Carolina’s Outer Banks are a true national treasure. This 130-mile long string of sandy barrier islands host wildlife reserves, quiet beaches, the North Carolina Maritime Museum and an outdoor drama telling the story of the Lost Colony at Roanoke Island.


20 – 25. America’s Finest Lighthouses

Currituck Beach, Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, Ocracoke Island, Cape Lookout, Oak Island… The most famous, the tallest, the oldest, the most battled-over… North Carolina’s wealth of wonderful lighthouses offer photo opportunities to visitors that are unmatched anywhere in the world! And for a freebie, there’s “Old Baldy” too.

Links with historical, technical and visitors’ information for all NC’s lighthouses can be found at Carolina Lights, so don’t forget to put some or all of these on your travel itinerary!

There you have it. 25 – or, 26 with Old Baldy – great reasons to visit North Carolina this year, covering enough ground to keep you coming back year after year!

Posts to This Series:
Part 1: Reasons 1 – 5
Part 2: Reasons 6 – 10
Part 3: Reasons 11 – 15
Part 4: Reasons 16 – 25

Moving toward the east, there are more great reasons to consider North Carolina’s abundant offerings for family fun when planning getaways and vacations.

11. Mountains to Sea Trail

From the very top of Clingman’s Dome near the Tennessee border to the sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the strand of the Outer Banks, North Carolina’s 925-mile long Mountains-to-Sea Trail offers an adventurous way to explore the state’s natural treasures and human wonders. This is an adventure a visitor can embrace in small chunks or in an extended all at once while experiencing the best of NC’s towns and cities, rural agritourism initiatives and natural preserves.

12. Waldensian Valdese

The rich history of the Waldensian sect is preserved in beautiful Valdese, NC in the foothills between Morganton and Hickory. With a world famous winery, a summer festival and outdoor drama, the finest Bocce Ball clay court anywhere and one of the best regional musical venues anywhere, Valdese is a fun and educational stop along the way for anyone wanting to experience some of the best of North Carolina’s homespun heritage.

13. NC’s Arts and Agriculture Trails

In a unique alliance between the North Carolina Arts Council and the NC Cooperative Extension Service, a total of 16 different, well-planned “Arts and Agriculture Trails” have been mapped out for a project called Homegrown Handmade. These trails meander through foothills, across the piedmont and around the coastal regions, allowing visitors to visit wineries, organic farms and dairies, art studios and sidewalk cafes in charming little towns.

14. Cosmopolitan Charlotte and the Sporting Life

From bustling Lake Norman and its posh golf courses and sailboat regattas through the home of NASCAR in “Race City USA” Mooresville, tothe Bank of America Stadium uptown to see NC’s Panthers play professional football, the Charlotte area boasts some of the finest sports tourism opportunities available anywhere. And while you’re there, do check out the busy Charlotte nightlife at famous regional brewhouses and musical venues offering a variety of musicians and styles.

15. Pinehurst – Home of American Golf

Farther to the east between Charlotte and Fayetteville in the rolling Sandhill region, Pinehurst offers golfers the largest collection of Donald Ross golf courses anywhere, and enjoys the distinction of being the “Home of American Golf.” In addition to 10 of the top 20 NC golf courses, the area’s resorts also offer world class tennis courts, spa facilities, exquisite dining and luxurious accommodations. While golf is a regular way of life here, there are also arts, history, botanical gardens, festivals and unique shopping on the smorgasbord of offerings.

Posts to This Series:
Part 1: Reasons 1 – 5
Part 2: Reasons 6 – 10
Part 3: Reasons 11 – 15
Part 4: Reasons 16 – 25

Proudly presented first is the January schedule of events for our wonderful, world-class North Carolina symphony, based in Raleigh.

• Jan. 10, 2008 – Moore County Series: Berlioz, Liszt and Tchaikovsky at the Pinecrest High School Auditorium in Southern Pines. Andrew von Oeyen on piano with Emmanuel Villaume as guest conductor.

• January 11-12, 2008 – Duke Medicine Classical Raleigh Series: Berlioz, Liszt and Tchaikovsky at the Meymandi Concert Hall, Raleigh. Pianist Andrew von Oeyen with Emmanuel Villaume guest conducting.

• January 18-20, 2008 – Fidelity Investments Pops Series: A Tribute to Nat King Cole and Paul Robeson at the Meymandi Concert Hall. Jubilant Sykes, baritone with William Henry Curry conducting.

• January 24, 2008 – Duke Medicine Classical chapel Hill Series: Rameau and Rachmaninoff at Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill. Featuring Yevgeny Sudbin on piano with music director Grant Llewellyn conducting.

Check the NC Symphony Website for further schedules, ticket information and directions to all the venues.

For more populist fare on the NC coast, check out the Down East FolkArts Society series, featuring award winning guitarist, singer, songwriter and storyteller Little Toby Walker and his eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary blues, folk, ragtime and country music. Performances are scheduled for January 11 at the Trent River Coffee Company in New Bern, and January 12 at Clawson’s in Beaufort. Click on the link for ticket and contact information.

Farther west in beautiful Charlotte there are some great musical events scheduled. Chris Brown & Bow Wow will be performing at Cricket Arena on January 19, and Matchbox Twenty will be there on January 29. For some blue collar hilarity, get your tickets now for Ron White at Ovens Auditorium in charlotte on February 15. Tickets may be purchased for all these events (and more!) through Charlotte Ticket Brokers.

Barry Manilow will be appearing at the RBC Center end state in Raleigh on January 20, and I know there are fans who won’t want to miss that! Anita Baker will be at RBC on January 27. Tickets for RBC events are available through TicketWood.

Even farther to the mountainous west, Asheville’s Grove Park Inn will be hosting the “All That Jazz” weekend on January 25-27. Jazz artists include the reunion of Joe Sample & The Crusaders plus Manhattan Transfer, jazz guitarists Bucky and John Pizzarelli with the John Pizzarelli Quartet. Also appearing will be guitarist Vince Lewis, trombonist Rick Simerly, saxophonists Todd Wright and Phil Thomson, vocalist Maddy Winer, and many other regional jazz musicians. This is one jazz festival you won’t want to miss, so get your weekend packages from the Inn right away!

For those with children to entertain, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus will be in Charlotte on February 2 and 3, moving on to Raleigh on February 9 and 10.

Links:

North Carolina symphony

Down East FolkArts Society

Charlotte Ticket Brokers

TicketWood

Grove Park Inn

In the Raleigh area you could get tickets for the North Carolina Symphony New Year’s Eve Extravaganza Package. To include a pre-concert cocktail party at 5 o.m. at the Sheraton Capital Center in downtown Raleigh, the 7:30 p.m. concert, and a post concert dinner and dancing fest back at the Sheraton offering a four-course dinner and big band music from Leon Jordan’s Continentals. There will of course be plenty of champagne at midnight too.

Music Director Grant Llewellyn hosts special guests mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy and the Red Clay ramblers’ mix of Irish and French folk tunes, classical favorites and bluegrass-rock fusions.

If you’re in the Raleigh area and you’d like to make other plans, check out the offerings at The Twisted Fork, or at Michael Dean’s, Bogart’s, Hi5, or the Red Room. In Fayetteville check out the planned festivities at the Mash House Restaurant & Brewery. Make your reservations now!

ClubZone offers a rundown of New Year’s events in Charlotte, for which you can pre-purchase tickets on line so they’ll be ready to give for Christmas gifts.

You could make plans to be in Mt. Olive for the Annual New Year’s Pickle Drop, or in Clay’s Corner (Possum Capitol of the World) for the midnight Lowering of the Possum. There’s a fairly complete list of events all over North Carolina at the Carolina Connoisseur website.

North Carolina’s ski resorts are planning some fun New Year’s festivities as well. Appalachian Ski Mountain near Blowing Rock offers fireworks, a torchlight parade, night skiing until 11:30 p.m., moonlight ice skating until midnight, and breakfast in the restaurant from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Sugar Mountain Ski Resort near Banner Elk plans a Mountain Style celebration to which the public is invited free of charge. There will be a torchlight parade and fireworks at midnight. Reservations will be required for indoor festivities, so call quick!

Links:

North Carolina Symphony

ClubZone: Charlotte

Mt. Olive Pickle Drop

Lowering of the Possum

Carolina Connoisseur

Appalachian Ski Mountain

Sugar Mountain Ski Resort