The natural world presents many questions in winter. This weekend, you have a chance to learn many answers.
Coast
When you head to the coast, hiking often isn’t atop your list of things to do. It should be, especially this time of year. The bugs are at bay (or at least at a minimum), the temperatures aren’t stifling, and, perhaps most significantly, it is serene, the calm before the summer crowds descend.
We like to ward off the beginning of the work-week blues with thoughts about life on the outside.
It’s only one day. But it’s a day that can make a difference.
Sunday is the first day of the new year. Dating back 4,000 years to the Babylonians, we’ve looked at the day as a time for renewal and rebirth. We vow to be better people, we pledge to take better care of ourselves. In fact, the latter, staying fit and healthy, is the most popular New Year’s resolution we make, according to at least one survey.
First, a note that all North Carolina State Parks and most municipal and county parks are closed Christmas Day (Sunday). Thus, if you plan any park exploring, best get it in Saturday (or Friday!). That said … .
Coast | Coastal Plain
Got visiting kin who could use a bit of movement and wouldn’t mind learning about North Carolina history? Load ‘em in the car Saturday morning and head them down to Carvers Creek State Park near Spring Lake, for a 3-Mile History Hike, taking in the grist mill, pavilion, silos and other features of this property, once a farm owned by James Stillman Rockefeller.
Labor Day has come and gone, the summer with it. Now, we get down to the serious business of fall fun in North Carolina!
Coast | Coastal Plain
There’s something romantic about an open-water swim in the ocean: riding the swells, being buoyed by the salt water, sharing space with all manner of aquatic life.
It’s Cliffs of the Neuse State Park’s turn to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the North Carolina State Parks system this weekend, with everything from a paddle to a fun run to an interpretive hike. Or, you can forage in a forest or take a dive.