This 200-mile-long string of barrier islands along the North Carolina coast is a beach-driving paradise, and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, covering some 70 miles of it, is a great place to park your RV for an amazing vacation. Where exactly y
WilmingtonandBeaches.com
Located on the Cape Fear coast at the northern end of Pleasure Island, one of North Carolina's barrier islands, just south of the historic city of WIlmington, Carolina Beach (year-round poulation just over 5,000) is bu
Hundreds of people who were jammed into an amphitheater swayed and clapped their hands in time to music. Not far away, a much smaller crowd listened with rapt attention as a trio combined the sounds of mellow jazz with hip-hop.
Music fans gather in
Read more…
In the United States, barbecue is a year-round treat, and many regions of the country – mostly in the South – have their own particular slant on the art of roasting, smoking, and saucing meats on a nice hot grill or in a smoker o
One of the original 13 British colonies which first formed the United States, North Carolina is home to plenty of historic and cultural sites but also some breathtaking natural beauty, including national and state parks, and dozens of beaches
Read more…
When it comes to surfing, Hawaii and California are of course the most famous states in the USA (and for places in the latter, like Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Malibu, Newport Beach, and Venice Beach, fly into Los Angeles International Airpor
Dan and Mary Stroudt oooh and aaah at the multicolored scenery below the hot air balloon in which they’re riding. The journey is very different for Mark and Marylee Sutherland as they help to paddle a rubber raft along a stretch of whitewater in t
Read more…
North Carolina's largest city (1.25 million, metro area 2.6 million and the South's second largest after Jacksonville, Florida, Charlotte has been one of the USA's fastest growing urbs in recent years; a progressive island in a mostly conservative
Also marked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the USA's most visited, covering 816 square miles (2,114 sq. kilometers) of the Blue Ridge Mountains (part of the Appalachians) straddling eastern Tennessee and
For many families, summer might not be the best time to take a long vacation. Many people either need to wait until the season is over, or they prefer to go on vacation in the fall when it’s a little cooler outside. This also means crowds die down
I am a Carolina girl; I was born in Charleston, grew up in Charlotte and went to school at East Carolina, so I know my Carolinas. I also worked on a cruise ship for five years, and what do cruise ships do? They visit beautiful beaches. Yes, the Carib
Read more…
Many if not most countries of the world, of course, set aside choice pieces of territory to protect and often showcase precious natural environments. But thanks to its size and a conservationist ethos dating back to the mid-19th century (though thes
When you’ve lived most of your life in flat Florida as I have, even driving over a moderately steep bridge can get you going. But if you are really drawn to high spots, I’ve found fewer more absolutely exhilarating than the green mountains and wooded
Everybody agrees that the two top places to ring in a new year are Times Square in New York City (right) and anywhere in Las Vegas. But there are other interesting, free, even quirky New Year’s Eve celebrations in the USA, from a cheese party in Wisc
Read more…
This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is perhaps the most historic since its first celebration as a U.S. national holiday in 1986, coinciding as it does with the second inauguration of the United States’ first black president, Barack Obama. To mark the oc
For sheer pleasantness, there isn't much that beats looking up at October foliage in the forests of western North Carolina--unless maybe it's looking down at the autumn colors from strategic perches in the trees themselves. This was my privileged per
This is a little nutty, but if you're near the Great Wolf Lodge that's close to Charlotte, you can participate in setting a world record--for waterslides--on the 26th.
Read more…Does anyone know how (or if) I can get from the airport at Charlotte to Chapel Hill without renting a car?
Read more… Gavin Haskell/Dreamtime.com
I stood frozen with fear, unable to move. The terrifying image drew closer, curved sword swinging wildly. Just as the fearsome swashbuckler seemed about to separate my head and body, I snapped back to reality; left my a
Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame
Louis Kaplan is channeling his childhood. While a youngster, he collected baseball cards which he stored in boxes and treasured as souvenirs of the USA's favorite pastime. Decades later, he’s reliving that tim
