North Carolina at Thanksgiving
 

I'm a new resident of North Carolina and haven't had a chance to explore the state. Any advice on short trips a friend and I might make during Thanksgiving holidays? We'll have roughly 4 days, and I'd appreciate suggestions for mountain, beach, or city sights that are worth seeing. (Yes, the time is limited!)

If you haven't been to Biltmore Estate in Asheville, I recommend it. It's all decorated for Christmas and Asheville has other tourist attractions. I think the Asheville tourism website is www.exploreasheville.com. Biltmore's is www.biltmore.com. <BR> <BR>Other options would be Old Salem in Winston-Salem (though I'm not sure there is four days worth of stuff to do in WS), Pinehurst (if you have golfers in your group), or Wilmington (USS North Carolina). <BR> <BR>You haven't mentioned where you live in NC, but but it might be a good time to visit the capital city of Raleigh (stay away from Crabtree Valley mall and you should be okay traffic wise over that weekend) or the largest city of Charlotte. And holidays are the best time to visit Chapel Hill when the students are away.

Ncgrrl has, once again, provided lots of great info on North Carolina. <BR> <BR>You might want to spend two days in Asheville, then head to the Cashiers/Highlands. The area is beautiful and offers a wide variety of waterfalls. Lots of great B&Bs and some pretty interesting shopping and restaurants in Highlands.

I like the suggestion of ncgrrl about going to Asheville...it's a great time to visit the Biltmore. On the other hand, if you want to go to the other side of the state, the Outer Banks is always a beautiful place to visit. I recommend staying in Hatteras Village or on Ocracoke Island.

Laureen, <BR> <BR>the good suggestions above have inspired the following idea. Since you are new to the state, you could use 4 days as follows. Spend 1 or 2 days in Winston-Salem (especially Old Salem, including a carriage ride in that area). Also in W/S, I'd recommend Bethabara Park (the predecessor settlement to Old Salem) and Tanglewood Park, as well as a small but nice arts district downtown on 7th street (one of our favorite alltime galleries is there: Urban Artware). <BR> <BR>Then on to Asheville, after which you could loop back on the blue ridge parkway north to Blowing Rock and then take 421 South to 40 east back through W/S. (If you have time, I second the Cashiers/Highlands idea, although the weather could be tricky that time of year (i.e. cold, but probably no snow). <BR> <BR>Have a great time!

I would spend my 4 days in the Asheville area- don't miss Hendersonville and Brevard- just a few miles away. All have wonderful shopping, hiking trails, historic sights, and much more!