Favorite things to do in North Carolina?

[PeterPan]

What are your favorite things to do in NC? We like nature things, history, architecture, and good food. And they need to be accessible with a toddler. We also enjoy unusual, fast, fun kinda things (fast boat tours, ziplines, etc.) If it's something really great and unmissable, we'd probably swap who watched the toddler to make it happen. :)

 

Any suggestions? I assumed the Biltmore, since we've never seen that. I thought maybe the scenic highway in the western part of the state. Is the beach worth going to or about worthless compared to other places? Anything unmissable?

 

Thanks!

[Heather in Neverland]

um...live there? :D Yes, go to the Biltmore, Chimney Rock, Lake James, Grandfather Mountain, Blueridge Parkway, etc.

[PeterPan]

So it sounds like you're saying if we only have 2-3 days to focus on the middle and western part and skip the beach?

[Heather in Neverland]

So it sounds like you're saying if we only have 2-3 days to focus on the middle and western part and skip the beach?

 

Well, I can't say as I haven't been to that side of the state. I lived in western NC and it is beautiful!!!

[sparrow]

The Outer Banks are totally worth it! We love going there. One of our favorite aquariums, and we've been to a lot, is located in Manteo on Roanoke Island. Love the beach, love the lighthouses, love the history of the Outer Banks. Go, because I want to now :D.

[Ellie]

The Outer Banks are totally worth it! We love going there. One of our favorite aquariums, and we've been to a lot, is located in Manteo on Roanoke Island. Love the beach, love the lighthouses, love the history of the Outer Banks. Go, because I want to now :D.

My g-grandfather was the last lighthouse keeper at Ocracoke, and I spent a good deal of my time there (and at Hatteras) when I was growing up.:) Even today, once you get to Hatteras, almost anyone you bump into will be my cousin. :)

[sparrow]

My g-grandfather was the last lighthouse keeper at Ocracoke, and I spent a good deal of my time there (and at Hatteras) when I was growing up.:) Even today, once you get to Hatteras, almost anyone you bump into will be my cousin. :)

 

That is so neat! I've loved lighthouses since reading a book when I was a little girl about a little girl that lived in a lighthouse with her family.

 

Next time we're in Hatteras, I'm asking the non-tourists, "are you Ellie's kin?":).

[MamaT]

I live in Western NC. I agree with everything Heather said - also there is a new zip line about 6 miles north of my house called Navitat.

 

If you do come to Asheville, downtown is a very neat place to walk around - and you HAVE to eat at Tupelo Honey! :001_smile:

[jengjohnson]

I think the Outer Banks are wonderful if you like the beach. Many lighthouses to visit, Currituk is our favorite. The Lost Colony play is excellent, though your little guy probably wouldn't sit through it and might get scared. It's worth a girls' night out if you can manage it. Kitty Hawk and Elizabethan Gardens would be fun for all. Awful Arthur's shouldn't be missed if you like seafood, but get there early, the wait for dinner can be long. You can visit the Corolla Wild Horses if you take Hwy 12 all the way north.

[PeterPan]

Well man, now I can't decide! The western part looks really great, with the BlueRidge Parkway, the Smokies, the caverns, etc., and the coast looks great too!!!!!!!!!! And worse, it appears the men of the house want to do the mountains and the women want to do the beach. So anyone want to help me decide? :)

 

Seriously, I saw there are a lot of road closings in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park right now, so that you can't go to some of the most popular things. Is that a huge issue? Maybe that's how I convince my dh to go to the coast instead? We're kind of concerned about the DRIVE time from Charlotte to the coast. It looks closer to go from Charlotte to the Asheville area, but then you get into windy roads where everything takes longer, right? So maybe it's actually a wash? We're just trying to be practical. Sometimes we get really ambitious and spend more time driving to awesome things than we actually do VACATIONING and enjoying them. :)

 

So help me decide! Toss a coin for me or tell me the weather will be bad or the roads a problem or something. :)

[HerdingCats]

The Outer Banks is a great trip, but it is a MUCH longer drive than to the mountains. We live outside of Charlotte and met some cousins from NJ there a few summers ago and our drive time was almost as long as theirs! There aren't any highways that make it a direct route from Charlotte and the bottle-neck once you get to the sound adds even more time.

 

If you only have 2-3 days you should hit the mountains in my opinion. It is absolutely gorgeous there in the spring. We went to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and the Cherohala skyway a couple of years ago. This is a bit off the beaten path of the usual tourist hot spots, but it is one of the few old growth forests on the East coast and simply breathtaking. The avatar you see here is a picture I took there. There are some great whitewater trips all over. Blowing Rock is a great trip. It is a nice place to spend a day shopping and lunch in the park there. Biltmore is always great. There is the Grove Park Inn which is nearby. A historic hotel where lots of famous people have stayed through the years. That is a great place to pop in and have lunch and check out the awesome art gallery next door. There is just a smidge of all my favorite things about the mountains! If you really want to try the Outer Banks let me know and I'll list my favorite places there. It's really great too, like I said, but a closer beach trip from Charlotte would be to SC; Charleston, Myrtle Beach, or Hilton Head maybe. You are sure to have fun wherever you end up!!

[sheryl]

What are your favorite things to do in NC? We like nature things, history, architecture, and good food. And they need to be accessible with a toddler. We also enjoy unusual, fast, fun kinda things (fast boat tours, ziplines, etc.) If it's something really great and unmissable, we'd probably swap who watched the toddler to make it happen. :)

 

Any suggestions? I assumed the Biltmore, since we've never seen that. I thought maybe the scenic highway in the western part of the state. Is the beach worth going to or about worthless compared to other places? Anything unmissable?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Elizabeth, See, you could have brought those books down to me during a meet and greet....;)

 

Well, it really does depend on whether you're a mountain person or beach person.

 

In my family we really like both, but if having to number, we'd say mountains first and beach second.

 

Mountains...Heather brought up some good ones....Biltmore, Chimney Rock, Boone and Blowing Rock. The last 2 are favs of ours. It's the closest to a little New England village....especially d.t. Blowing Rock. The scenic highway is fabulous any time of the year, especially in the fall! If you choose to take this route you MUST know that it is sloooow driving due to mountain terrain and driving....switchbacks galore, steep inclines, etc. Cherokee is fun, a little commercial but fun. Near Cherokee is Dome ? or ? Dome...I forget the full name. We went up to the top...whew. There is Bryson (The Fugitive with Harrison Ford was filmed there long ago) is fun with nearby river tubing.

 

Here in Charlotte we have Nascar. There is a wonderful event on Sunday, May 23. It includes kids activities, hot air balloons, Nascar, etc. I learned about this from my dd. We're planning Father's Day and I mentioned we should rent a hot air balloon ride for my dh (her Daddy). She told me about this event and I'm going to check it out.

 

Beach....well, there's soooo much to do. Just about anywhere....Outerbanks with lighthouses, horseback riding, etc.

 

I'm leaving tons out, but that gives you an idea. HTH. Sheryl <><

 

PS....Remember we'll be up in your neck of the woods in July. One thing, please tell me if there will be a July 4th parade in MT V. Thanks.

[Laurie4b]

Not yet mentioned:

 

Sliding Rock

the zoo (animals are in natural habitat)

Other parts of the coast: We like Topsail Beach at the south end of the island (natural dunes) you can walk around the point from the ocean to the bay, find fun shells, shark's teeth, etc. There is a sea turtle hospital there (google for hours). The aquarium at Ft.Fisher is very nice.

Old Salem in Winston Salem is a great historic site

[Chris in VA]

Go to a gem mine. Even the toddler can do it with you--you sit at a wooden sluice, they give you a bucket full of mud in which are naturally occuring rubies, sapphires, and other cool rocks, and you use your hands to wash away the mud and find treasure! You can get a bucket that is "seeded" with 2-3 inch rocks (different kinds of quartz mostly) and smaller gems--really fun, a good way to spend a couple of hours. You can share a couple of buckets to make it go faster.

[PeterPan]

Chris, I saw a place that mentioned gem mining, and I didn't know if it was for real or not! LOL Well now I'll go look. :)

 

Thanks everybody. I think we've decided to go toward the mountains!

 

Herding Cats--Thanks for confirming what we should do! Now I know I'm on the right track. :) Love the idea of the old growth woods. That would definitely go over big. :)

[Ellie]

That is so neat! I've loved lighthouses since reading a book when I was a little girl about a little girl that lived in a lighthouse with her family.

 

Next time we're in Hatteras, I'm asking the non-tourists, "are you Ellie's kin?":).

If you ask, "Are you Aunt Hazel's kin?" you'll probably get a better answer. Hazel Beasley was my grandmother; her father was the lighthouse keeper (Cap'n Joe Burrus) and her mother was Eleanor Odin, one of 10 Odin children. The Hatteras Blue Marlin Motel is owned by one of my cousins; she might remember me (we didn't know each other when we were growing up, as I lived with my grandparents and so mostly I knew her aunts and uncles, not the children). If you stop in there, remind her that I'm the cousin from California. :-)

[Tiffnkids]

If you decide to do Western NC (Asheville area), then I highly recommend the NC Arboretum. It is a beautiful place and the bonsai exhibit is incredible.