Gas Prices Dent NC Tourism

Bloomberg reported last week that according to MasterCard, demand for gasoline has fallen 2.7% from the same time last year as consumers cut back on vacation plans. The Greater Triad Area Business Journal also reports that vacation house rentals along the NC coast are down 5-8% from last year, with more available houses staying empty. There are no current reports on the number of visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway, but those figures are expected to be down significantly this season as well.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports that North Carolina’s tourism office is responding by putting more money and effort into getting in-state residents to stay closer to home this year for their vacations, and that other states are doing the same thing.

Luckily, North Carolina is so rich in natural beauty and fun family events as well as attractions, that North Carolinians can always find fun things to do on their vacations without having to drive far at all. Even better, a good many of the summer festivals, rural attractions and outdoor opportunities cost them little to nothing!

So no matter where in North Carolina you live, there are things to do, places to go and fun to be had within 100 miles of your residence. You can take the family camping on any of our beautiful lakes, at our many state parks, or even in the nation’s most popular national park. You can go boating at the coast, tour some lighthouses, do some surf-fishing and collect seashells from our beaches. You can tour organic farms and orchards, attend a small town festival, enjoy great music of all varieties, and learn new things about our state without going far from home.

So, all you proud North Carolinians… discover something wonderful about your own region this summer, and don’t worry that it’ll cost you an arm and a leg. We never have to go far from home to have a wonderful time with our friends and families, to learn and experience new people and new vistas and new things. Don’t give up your necessary vacation this year just because gas prices are high. Just don’t drive so far! In North Carolina, you don’t have to!

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Good Even, M’Lords and Ladies!

It began innocently enough. The French ambassador Vicompte Bertrand Fenelon de Saint Julen had arrived at the Lord Mayor’s manor just ahead of the Spanish ambassador, Count Bernadino de Mendoza. A day ahead of Good Queen Bess’ scheduled arrival. The two had been shown their lavish quarters, and having unloaded personal possessions, strode together along the South Wing’s stained glass lined hall seeking the privy. They were not friends, exactly, but they both took their positions with utmost seriousness. Thus what they overheard in the privy - a conversation abruptly cut short when their presence was noted - set them upon a quest to discover the plot and earn the favor of the Queen…

The 14th Annual North Carolina Renaissance Faire begins this year with a tale of intrigue among the nobles on the very eve of the Queen’s spring visit. The Faire runs for three weekends - March 29th and 30th, April 5th and 6th, and April 12th and 13th at the North Carolina Fair Grounds in Raleigh. The weekend of April 5-6 will host Tartan Day celebrations, so wear your clan’s tartan and join in the highland games!

Enjoying the Duke University Medieval and Renaissance Studies Department’s involvement and support, the North Carolina Faire is one of the premier Ren-Faires in the nation, as well as one of the earliest. So dig out those Elizabethan costumes, that treasured sword as well as all the crown jewels, and make plans to attend the North Carolina Renaissance Faire this year!

14th Annual North Carolina Renaissance Faire

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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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Filed under Tourism, Biking, Hiking, Night Life, Restaurants, Agriculture, Wineries, Resorts, NC Trails, Carolina History, Football, Art, Music, NASCAR, Lakes, Family Activities, Regional Crafts, Festivals | Comments (2)

Top 25 Reasons to Visit NC

There are literally hundreds of great places to go and things to do in beautiful North Carolina, but for this series I’m just going to highlight 25 of the best reasons to visit. Starting in the lush mountains of the west and meandering through the state toward the storied Outer Banks, this quick tour of our state offers something for everyone!

Part 1: Reasons 1 - 5

1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The most visited of America’s National Parks, the Great Smoky Mountains hosts more than 9 million people a year on its Blue Ridge Parkway and in its forests, creeks, coves and hollows along 900 miles of trails. Straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina boarder, the park is home to one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now an International Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage site.


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A Guided Tour of New Bern

The first Colonial capital of North Carolina, historic New Bern maintains a regular time capsule of building styles in well-maintained houses and buildings. This is a narrated video tour of the coastal port city where the Trent and Neuse Rivers meet and flow into the southern arm of Pamlico Sound.

While in the coastal region, you may want to investigate some of the coastal legends that have accumulated over the centuries, from the storied Lost Colony through ghosts, pirates and even ghost ships, to a Dismal Swamp said to be home to a tragic Lady of the Lake.

To begin planning your trip to the beautiful and storied North Carolina coast, check out some of the offered information and links at CoastalGuide: New Bern.

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Valdese, NC: The Waldensian Stronghold

Way back in the middle ages - 1174 to be exact - a French businessman from Lyons caught the radical gist of Jesus’ teachings in the gospels and committed himself to a life of voluntary poverty and itinerant preaching. His name was Valdes. He renounced his previous business practices, threw all his money into the street, and started a soup kitchen during the famine of 1176. He traveled the countryside preaching the gospel of Jesus and eventually creating a rift with the dominant Catholic Church.

Valdes inspired other wandering preachers including Peter Waldo, who established the Poor Men of Lyons sect that preached apostolic poverty as the way to perfection. They traveled to Rome around 1177 and received the blessing of Pope Alexander III, who at the same time forbade their preaching without authorization from local clergy. The Waldensias (as they became known) of course disobeyed the papal edict, and were formally declared heretics by Pope Lucius III in 1184 and by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215.

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Ski NC: What’s New This Season

North Carolina gets a lot of tourists, making tourism one of the largest industries in the state. Western NC gets 3 million visitors at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and even more along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Between NASCAR, the Outer Banks, and other attractions all over the state, tourism supplies ~$15.5 billion and nearly 200,000 jobs to the North Carolina economy, along with about $2.5 billion in tax revenues.

But not all of North Carolina’s tourism happens in the beautiful spring, summer or fall. Our mountainous western region hosts many excellent - even world class - ski resorts who do a brisk business at high elevations all winter long!

Ski North Carolina keeps a constantly updated skiing news and conditions report going, along with links to the area resorts and lots of information and advertisements for condos, chalets and other lodging options at or near all the best slopes.

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Filed under Snowboarding, Snow Tubing, Tourism, Ski Resorts, Winter Sports, Blue Ridge, Family Activities, North Carolina | Comment (0)