Explore Cherry Point via a triathlon, participate in the VIII Lake Lure Olympiad or try your hand (and feet and sense of balance) with yoga on a paddleboard. Just another summer weekend in North Carolina.
Coast
I’m partial to events on military bases, in part because it gives civilians such as myself access to the otherwise inaccessible, to a world we otherwise don’t get a chance to see. That exposure is compounded when the event is a triathlon, which lets you run and ride through these forbidden lands.read more
Surf while you can, don’t pass up a good shower, and there’s a trail run in the mountains — somewhere.
Coast
A regret that needles at me seven years after the fact: Standing on a pier in Kaanapali on Maui watching a beginner surf lesson and not ponying up the $25 or whatever to take the lesson myself. I can still see people far less athletic than I bounding atop the long, spongy beginner boards and riding two-foot swells that went on forever. Looks like fun, I kept telling myself. That bit of melancholy leads to today’s weekend suggestion for the coast …read more
I was talking to Steven Wheelock, a wellness instructor at Rex Wellness in Raleigh, about stretching for a story coming soon to a McClatchy Newspaper (Charlotte Observer/News & Observer) near you when he sought to put the practice in perspective by anatomizing the four phases of the workout: 1. Stretching/warmup, 2. Evaluation period, 3. The workout itself, 4. Cool down.read more
I know it’s just Tuesday, but what better time to start planning for the weekend ahead than while the memory of the weekend past is still fresh
Coast
Two great options at Dismal Swamp State Park this weekend. Saturday, it’s Bike to the Bull North Burn, an 8-mile round-trip bike ride to the site of last year’s Bull North Fire. There’s a 20-minute program at the site, followed by a box lunch. Brink your own bike or rent one on site (make arrangements when you call to register). Starts at 9 a.m.read more
A sure sign of warmer weather: Tuesday, I saw this baby copperhead sunning himself on a log along the Haw River.
North Carolina’s diversity shows this weekend. At the coast, you can look for signs of spring, in the Piedmont you can run a venerable 5K and in the mountains, you can take a hike — possibly in the snow!
Coast
This is about the time the natural world starts to awaken from its cold winter nap — or as much of a nap as you can work in with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Most people assume that wildflowers such as the hepatica and trout lily represent the vanguard of spring, showing, typically, at the beginning of March. But knowing that spring is on the way is really a matter of knowing where to look. Under a log, for instance, which is where they’ll be looking for harbingers of spring on Saturday at Dismal Swamp State Park. Take a hike, find a log, flip it and see what scurries about. (Salamanders, millipedes and assorted insects will be your likely subjects.)read more
