Explore Wilmington — quickly — by foot; explore the Triad at 18 mph by bike; or take a mountain hike frequently interrupted by plunges into a cool mountain pools. Those are but three of your options for getting out and exploring North Carolina this weekend.
Race fever is afoot
After Saturday’s BluePoints 5K at the Ballpark, I ran into Lew Borman milling about in the post-race/pre-awards-ceremony crowd. Borman hadn’t run — he was there supporting his son, Elliot — but he had the air of a man who had been exposed to race fever.
Escape … to Harris Lake
Monday (or in this case, since yesterday was the July 4 holiday, Tuesday) — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast, especially come summer. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy.
To help ease this trying transition from out-in-the-Sun-day to Mon-I-wish-I-were-back-in-the-sun-day, we’re running a new feature every Monday, at least during the summer, called 90-Second Escape. Essentially, it’s a 90-second mini-movie of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s out in the sun. Because there’s a good chance you might want to make such an escape yourself, we’ll include a resource list with each escape showing where and how to make it happen.
Running downhill, hiking up
One thing I like about 5Ks: Like snowflakes, no two are alike. That’s not to say they don’t have similarities: they’re all 3.1 miles, for example (usually). This summer’s four-race BluePoints 5K Race Series, for instance, is turning out to be a very fast series.
This weekend, celebrate your outdoors independence
You’ll need the extended three-day July 4 weekened to fit in everything going on in North Carolina this weekend.
Coast
North Carolina’s salt marshes offer some of the best paddling in the state. One minute you’ve sweeping views to the mainland or across the Atlantic, the next you’re in a labryinthine waterway weaving amid salt marsh cord grass. It helps to have a guide to show the way — and to explain this coastal habitat.