Where to stop along the way to Kill Devil Hills
 

I'm planning a vacation to Kill Devil Hills this fall, and we will be driving from Knoxville, which has us going past Hickory, then Greensboro and Raleigh on the way. (We being my husband and daughter who will be almost 2 at that time). I'd like to cut the drive in half by stopping at a quaint small town on the way to spend 1 day & night. Need a suggestion for a neat place to stop that would be a good walking town, pretty scenery, interesting shops & restaurants, any fun activities that a 2-year old would have the patience for. Any suggestions?

Hmm, quaint, good for a 2-year-old and along the way?

Maybe Chapel Hill? Not sure I'd call it quaint, it's a college town, but it has pretty scenery, interesting shops and the kid could run around campus.

Chapel Hill would be a little more than halfway. I'm from Knoxville and went to grad school at UNC, and it took me about 5.5 to six hours to get home (though I would imagine with a two-year-old, it would take a little longer). Chapel Hill isn't super small, but the downtown is good for walking around and has some fun shops and restaurants. Depending on your budget, there are several chains around town, or the Siena or Carolina Inn if you want to spend more.

One possible tip - when I was going back and forth, I preferred going through Virginia via I-81 to going through the Smokies on I-40 (you get back on I-40 at Winston-Salem). It takes the same amount of time, but it stressed me out less - the first 30 miles or so on 40 in NC can be un-fun sometimes, though people obviously drive it all the time without incident. However, I've heard that there may be construction along the I-81 route right now, so you may want to do more research if that's an option that appeals to you. Let me know if you want more specifics and I'll be happy to help.

To cut the trip in two, you might consider taking I-40 to I-81 to the Tri-Cities and then following I-26 to Johnson City and then US-321 to Boone, N. Wilkesboro, and finally to Winston-Salem for your overnighter. That is the route we took last week and it was fine. US-321 from Hampton to Boone is two-lane, but it's very scenic and if you're used to the hills around Knoxville, it's nothing to be wary of.

As an alternative, you could stay in Boone or Blowing Rock overnight and visit the walkable town of Blowing Rock for a few hours. Start or end the day with a stop at Tweetsie Railroad for the 2-year-old. There's the steam train (narrow gauge, like Dollywood's), some kiddie rides, a petting zoo, and other activities that your toddler would probably enjoy.

We stopped in Plymouth, N.C., on our way out of the Outer Banks. It's only an hour or so from Nags Head. But it has a recreated lighthouse (Roanoke River Light), a Civil War museum housed in the old railroad depot, and a replica of a Civil War CSS ironclad ship tied up at the dock. The ship has an interesting story. I had no idea that coastal NC had so much Civil War history until this trip; I am by no means a Civil War buff.

Maybe Asheville area.