Are the horses on the Outer Banks on your list of mysteries of the universe? Are you perplexed by pickelball? And what’s the deal with the Graveyard Fields Overlook, anyway?
Answers to these and other questions on how to spend your weekend follow.
Coast
There are two ways to play it cool in the summer heat: stay on (or in) the water or seek higher, cooler, climes. Our suggestions for weekend fun take both approaches.
Coast
Standup paddleboarding: you’ve been thinking about it, but for whatever reason you’ve yet to give it a try. I don’t know where to rent a board, I don’t have anyone to teach me how, I don’t know the good places to go.
It’s summer, so sure, there’s a chance of thunderstorms. Don’t let a chance rule out a sure thing when it comes to some outdoor fun.
Coast
Imagine a time at the coast before cars, before trains, before even bridges. How did folks navigate a region with so much water?
I’ve never climbed Mount Pisgah, the iconic, 5,721-foot peak on the Blue Ridge Parkway west of Asheville, because “it” is there — “it” being the 339-foot transmission tower that boosts Pisgah’s God-and-manmade elevation to 6,023 feet.
I’ve stopped at the Pisgah Inn, bought the obligatory Moon Pie at the Country Store, hiked the Mountains-to-Sea Trail which runs past Pisgah. Every time I’ve stopped, spent a moment staring at Pisgah and it’s monstrous metal topper and thought, “Nah.”
This is considered the first weekend of summer in the tourism industry. The kids are mostly out of school, let the family escapes begin. To the coast, for a standup paddleboard or kayak tour, to the Piedmont for some fat tire fun, to the mountains for a mellow hike.