Experience a ‘Gilded Age’ Christmas

…and Visit the North Pole!

The economic news has been getting progressively worse and worse through the fall, politicians tell us we’re in for hard times, something the resourceful people of North Carolina are quite accustomed to. In the mountainous west of the state – designated in the best of times as an officially “depressed region” – the #1 source of income is tourism and our tremendous natural beauty in all seasons still draws millions of appreciative visitors from all over the world.

One of the most famous of the WNC attractions is America’s only genuine castle, the beautiful Biltmore Estate, once home to George Vanderbuilt and his wife Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, the estate continues the tradition of holiday festivities begun by the Vanderbuilts on Christmas Eve of 1895. With 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces, there’s plenty to decorate in the ornate style of the estate’s roots in America’s “Gilded Age.”

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Top 25 Reasons to Visit NC – 3

Part 3: Reasons 11 – 15

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.

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January NC Concerts & Events

Cultural life in North Carolina is rich and very diverse, with something for everyone living in the state, visiting, or just passing through. Below is an overview of upcoming concert events – for the musically inclined – at our many excellent venues throughout the state.

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

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Season’s Up and Running!

The Current NC Ski Report…

The hectic holidays – and the unusually warm spell that accompanied them this year – are behind us. Temperatures dropped into the teens as New Year’s Day came to its early close and snow fell across the western mountains. Snow making machines have been cranked up and are supplying base for the several great snowtubing runs at various WNC resorts, and the higher elevation slopes did manage to retain enough base to keep the skiers and snowboarders happy during the warm spell. From Cataloochee’s page…

As of 8pm. on Tuesday [Jan. 1], it is a chilly 19 degrees and it has been snowing since 4pm. We have received 2 inches of natural snow and the snow is forecast to continue into Wednesday. Snow making weather is in the forecast for most of the upcoming week and we will begin to make it as quickly as the temperatures allow. In an effort to capture the colder weather and maximize snowmaking to improve conditions and open more terrain, Cataloochie guests should expect snowmaking to be in progress during skiing hours if temperatures permit for this week. Please be prepared for winter conditions with hats and goggles and please dress accordingly.

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Making Plans for New Year’s Eve

With Christmas just a week away, it’s not too late to start making plans for New Year’s in North Carolina.

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.

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