Memorial Day offers no shortage of ways to celebrate the free, active life in North Carolina. In Asheville, the Mountain Sports Festival kicks off Friday and runs through Sunday, while the National Whitewater Center in Charlotte starts the day running on Sunday and never slows up.
90 Second Escape: Portsmouth Island
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 the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: Portsmouth Island
This weekend: Trails paddled, trails run
Paddle a popular coastal river or a prominent Piedmont lake, or take to the trail post haste in the Pisgah.
Coast
Pretty sure we’ve recommended this before and that’s fine: it’s a trip we can’t recommend enough. It’s Saturday’s paddle on the coastal Scuppernong River portion of Pettigrew State Park. Pettigrew is noted for its record old-growth trees, which you’ll find along the Scuppernong as well. Here, you’ll find ancient Atlantic white cedars (known locally as junipers) that reach diameters of three feet and heights of 100 feet. The area is also a wildlife oasis, assuring lots to see on this paddle.
90 Second Escape: Raleigh’s Neuse River Trail
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 the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
A big thanks (and two hugs) to Raleigh’s top parks volunteers
Last night, Raleigh Parks & Rec. honored its top volunteers with the 2013 Fred Fletcher Outstanding Volunteers Awards. Ten volunteers and one agency were selected for recognition, no easy chore considering 9,000 people volunteered more than 140,000 hours last year to help Raleigh’s parks and recreational facilities exceed their budgeting constraints.