Beach Road: Traveling N.C. Highway 12 from Ocracoke to Nags Head. Plus, A Salute to Fort Bragg.

PHOTO ESSAY

Eyes on Fort Bragg

When they’re away, time can’t move fast enough. When they’re home, it won’t slow down. Somewhere between waiting and hurrying, a soldier’s life unfolds in a series of moments that will define him forever. Photographers from the Fayetteville Observer, the hometown newspaper of Fort Bragg, capture those moments daily, locking them in still frames, freezing time.

• Web Exclusive: In June, we collected messages of thanks and support for the troops from our readers. See those messages and share them with service men and women you may know.

FEATURES

Drive Along the Beach Road by Molly Harrison

For 148 miles, N.C. Highway 12 courses through the Outer Banks, taking travelers to a variety of vistas and experiences.

Ready to Ride by Diane Summerville Jakubsen

Bikes line up for fun and a good cause at the Scoot-n-Hoot Poker Run in Iredell County.

Riding with Jonathan by Maria Johnson

For years, Nat Walker of Greensboro has been hitting the open road with his son, Jonathan, taking car trips that have nothing to do with destination and everything to do with finding a way to connect with his son.

Follow the Sound by Karen Mann

Musical treasures dating back to segregation are there to be discovered in the far-reaching corners of eastern North Carolina. The newly conceived African American Music Trail will help you remember them.

• Web Exclusive Video: Meet The Monitors, one of eastern North Carolina’s musical treasures featured on the African American Music Trail.

War Stories by Michael Graff

When one soldier landed at Normandy, he never imagined he’d be living to tell it 66 years later. But the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville gives him the opportunity.

DEPARTMENTS

Welcome to Our State

Freedom on Two Wheels by Elizabeth Hudson

Our State Quiz

Crossroads

With more than 80,000 miles of highway, we often find ourselves at a crossroad. Travel the length of our state with this month’s quiz on these roadway connections.

Tar Heel Books and Music

Book Reviews

• Eat Your Yard! Edible Trees, Shrubs, Vines, Herbs and Flowers For Your Landscape by Nan Chase
• Burning Bright by Ron Rash
• Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone by Nadine Cohadas
• Spiders of the Carolinas by L.L. Gaddy
• Wedding Cake: A Novel by Lynne Hinton
• Sit in: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney

The Edible Landscape by Nan Chase

Downsizing doesn’t necessarily quell the desire to grow your own food. Farming in the city just requires a fresh approach.

• Web Exclusive Video: See just how Nan’s garden grows in an Our State video.

Eastern Music Festival by Grant Britt

Connecting talented students with master musicians is the reason for the annual summer music camp, but more than 100 concerts in five weeks give audiences in the Triad plenty to enjoy.

Musical Military Honors by Casie Leigh Lukes

The North Carolina Symphony pays tribute to the United States Armed Services with a Red, White, and Blue Tour of our state’s military installations this month.

Tar Heel Humor

Slow Road to Fear by Daniel Wallace

Tar Heel Towns

Havelock by Vicky Eckenrode

The railroad started it, and the Marine Corps Air Station expanded it, but family ties are what make this town on the banks of the Neuse River a great place to live.

Tar Heel History

Finding Juan Pardo by Chip Womick

An archaeologist from Warren Wilson College is digging up a 16th-century Spanish fort on a site near Burke County’s Morganton. But why did everyone disappear after 1568.

Tar Heel People

Visions of Beauty by Maria Johnson

One of the state’s preeminent garden designers, Greensboro’s Chip Calloway lays out luxurious beds of leafiness throughout the East Coast.

Carolina Arts

Two Easels, One Vocation by Britta Waller

Painting is a way of life for Lenore De Pree and Joan Bell, owners of Originals Only in West Jefferson.

Tar Heel Gardening

Ornamental Okra by L.A. Jackson

You don’t have to eat this ubiquitous Southern plant to enjoy its charms.

Tar Heel Tastes

Siler City’s Burgermaster by Chris Gigley

They’re not fancy or complicated, but for 64 years the cheeseburgers at Johnson’s Drive-In have attracted a following of diners devoted to the mouthwatering creations coming off of Claxton Johnson’s griddle.

• Web Exclusive Video: See what makes a Johnson’s burger so delicious and what you can expect when you drop by for lunch.

Carolina Kitchen

Hooked on Honey by Charlotte Fekete

Our bees provide us with a sweet addition to summertime cooking.

Dates & Events

Trail Tales by Mandy Stovall

Studded with mine shafts and historic buildings, the Gold Hill Rail Trail offers hikers an exploratory adventure.

Tar Heel Images

All Together Now by Josh Drye of Burlington

A quartet of seagulls lined up on a Fort Fisher Ferry railing appear ready to break into song; “Blow th’ Man Down,” maybe?