My dinner here apparently begins with a traffic light. Green means keep going. Red means I need a…

I thought buying a houseplant was supposed to be a quick errand. North Carolina clearly has other ideas….

My grocery list would last about three minutes in one of these stores. I might walk in needing…

A public high school inside a university system sounds like somebody mixed up two brochures. They did not….

Thirty-five percent. I had to look at that number twice. Vacation rental searches for one North Carolina mountain…

Up to 40 boats covered in Christmas lights take part in a coastal celebration that has drawn more…

Swish. Clang. Okay, now try the branch three hoops higher. A 23-foot orange steel tree covered in 23…

Zero dollars. That is the nightly rate at several North Carolina campsites, and somehow a few of them…

The leaf season here can stretch from late September all the way to mid-November. That’s not a typo….

Olive this already. Some of the balsamic vinegars at this North Carolina waterfront shop have been aging in…

I expected a simple little mountain church. Instead, I found a painted figure of Jesus that seems to…

Somewhere in North Carolina, the mud apparently keeps office hours of never. I found an off-road park that…

Cow kimchi was not a phrase I expected to add to my vocabulary today. Yet on this North…

Two and a half tons should not be able to sprint. Yet a southern white rhino can hit…

A 164-foot lantern floating on a lake is where my sense of scale completely falls apart. It is…

A ballot in one hand and melted cheese in the other sounds like democracy finally got interesting. At…

I never expected bicycle rims and old road signs to become something I would plan a road trip…

Two miles of books is not browsing. That is cardio with chapters. The second I read that one…

I thought the dinosaur exhibit would start after I walked inside. Apparently, the front entrance had other plans….

Gravity apparently called in sick. A full diner now hangs upside down in Uptown, with chrome trim, stools,…

Awwww. An otter reaching out for a tiny high five may be the fastest way to ruin every…

A school founded more than 180 years ago just claimed a No. 1 national ranking. I had to…

Bwoooooom. A 2,566-pipe organ from 1917 is about to spend Halloween sounding a little less heavenly. I’m already…

Gather around, ladies and gentlemen. Come closer. There is a French circus setting up its Big Top in…

I could walk into a mall looking for shoes and somehow leave having met a mermaid. North Carolina…

The moment I read “4,000 pounds of molten iron,” my November plans became strangely specific. Apparently, North Carolina…

A movie theater from 1935 is showing films again here, and somehow that is only one reason this…

Creeeeak. If rusty red drops started falling from a stone arch above my head, I would not be…

Now that is what I call a frying pan with ambition. This North Carolina landmark stretches 15 feet…

Thirty minutes. One pumpkin. A shot at a hundred-dollar prize for carving something officially judged as Most Unhinged….

Bone readings on one side of the hallway. Cats on the other. I would already be climbing the…

Whooooosh. A 90-foot waterfall is dropping through peak fall color in North Carolina right now, and I would…

Oink first, grocery store later. North Carolina has farms where pigs spend their days outdoors, sometimes wandering through…

Two NHL-size rinks under one roof already sounds serious. Then somebody named the tiny third sheet “The Puddle,”…

Drip. Drip. I would be lying if I said I would walk under this arch without looking up…

One bottle of oil here holds a black feather, mugwort, bay leaf, and a sliver of black kyanite….

Old trash is helping keep ancient crafts alive in North Carolina. I had to read that twice. At…

Every new student here signs a giant book at convocation, adding their name to a running list of…

This view is almost rude. After a walk short enough to barely qualify as a hike, the mountains…