Weekend plans: By land, water, air

This weekend: Go fly a kite (or watch someone who really knows how), paddle through 2,000-year-old trees, take a hike on top of the state.

Coast

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, it’s the Kitty Hawk Kites Annual Outer Banks Stunt Kite Competition. This is competitive kite flying at its best, on the Eastern League Circuit (were you aware there was an Eastern League Circuit for sport kite flying?) and sanctioned by the American Kiting Association (ditto?). While the spectating promises to be swell, amateur kite flyers can get in on workshops, demonstrations and kite making for kids. Stuff to watch for: kite ballet competitions set to music and fast-paced team flying that blend a both kite control and speed. read more

90 Second Escape: A Goodbye to Summer

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Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease this trying transition, we’re running a new feature every Monday called 90 Second Escape. Essentially, it’s a 90-second video of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s in the sun. read more

Weekend Plans: Run, paddle, hike

It’s October, and last we checked the forecast called for true fall-like weather in North Carolina. Weather that would be a shame to waste … .

Coast

Two reasons to do Saturday’s Twin Bridges 8K Road Race in Morehead City. One, you get to run over two bridges. Starting in Beaufort (at the drawbridge) you get to run to neighboring Morehead City, go over both the city’s high-rise bridges, then wind up in Atlantic Beach (in the parking area of Bella Pizza & Subs — how convenient). The other reason: The race kicks off the North Carolina Seafood Festival. Show some restraint at Bella’s and you should have room for plenty of fresh seafood. read more

First 8 miles of Neuse Trail 20 feet from ‘officially’ opening

Construction scenes such as this are all but gone from the first stretch of the Neuse Greenway Trail, which should "officially" open in November.

To follow along with the trails mentioned below, download a copy of the Raleigh greenway map here.

The first 8 miles of the the Neuse Greenway Trail is all but 20-feet finished.

That’s the official word this morning from Raleigh Senior Greenway Planner Vic Lebsock. Officially, there’s only 20 feet left to finish, on a boardwalk a little over two miles south of the northern trailhead (off the old Falls of Neuse Road). A stretch under Capital Boulevard and greenway under the new Falls of Neuse Road — both of which were under construction a month ago — have been completed, Lebsock said. That means you could start from the southern trailhead, at the WRAL/CASL Soccer Complex off Perry Creek Road between Capital Boulevard and Louisburg Road, and travel unencumbered six miles upstream. read more