Another warm weekend is on tap, with highs around 90 forecast for much of the state. Typical for August, but still, by now most of us have had our fill of hot. How about some cool alternatives for a change?
Good idea — and we’ve got several.
On the water
Looking for a different way to celebrate this Fourth of July? Or at least a different place to celebrate it?
The North Carolina Recreation & Park Association has put together a list of 47 events being held statewide over the next three days. Eight events are today, 38 are tomorrow and for you procrastinators who perpetually wake up on July 5th and say, “Dang! I should’ve done something to celebrate Independence Day,” there’s a leftover on Thursday (in Holly Springs, which includes a Bike Wagon Parade and the chance to dress up your ride).
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 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.
We’re staring down the first steamy weekend of the summer. Frankly, I’m hard pressed to think of something to do outdoors that doesn’t involve water.
There’s swimming, of course. At your local pool (search for local parks and rec departments with pools at the North Carolina Recreation & Parks Association Web site), at a trusted swimming hole (find 76 in North Carolina at SwimmingHoles.org), at the coast (find Outer Banks beaches here, Wilmington area beaches here and assorted other beaches here.
Come summer, with its 90/90 days (heat/humidity) the last thing on most of our minds is a long hike in the woods. Oceans of sweat, acres of trail-clogging cobwebs, no hydration pack big enough to sate your insatiable thirst. Very understandable, this hike aversion — if you don’t know where to go. For if you do, there are plenty of trails — from North Carolina’s steamy coast, to the stuffy Piedmont to the sun-drenched high country — ideal for summer exploring.