Did you know those spicy pimentos were first mixed in to protect fresh cheese from flies? Did you know the spread’s origins may actually be from up North? But then our companies — Star Foods in Burlington, Ruth’s Salads in Charlotte — began making it, and then we all started eating it, and before long, pimento cheese belonged to us.
Sedan-size maps of centuries past weren’t as convenient as our smartphones’ GPS, but without them, we would have been lost.
My first weekend in North Carolina included a trip to the State Fair, and there I learned a thing so important that it sounds absurd. But it’s true: The thing about fried foods — and I had to move to North Carolina to learn this — is they will solve the world’s problems if you let them. OK — an extreme claim, but stay with me. We’ll see if I can’t convince you.
At North Carolina State University’s Hunt Library, “whoosh” replaces “shhh” as robots zip along the state-of-the-art building’s five-story trove of tomes.
Cake. Or, maybe pie ... No, definitely cake ... Probably ... Choosing between two worthy desserts may not be possible.
North Carolina is the only state with an official toast, and that deserves … well, a toast!
Every year thousands of people at the North Carolina State Fair walk by Dorton Arena, not realizing the building is one of the state’s most ambitious — and historically significant — pieces of architecture.
Its mission may seem simple — keep out bugs and let in breeze — but on a sultry summer day, a screen door is sublime. Comprising little more than wire mesh, a wooden frame, and a handful of hardware, it creates a barrier and an invitation, and an unmistakable sound that defines summer.
Close to home in the Piedmont, Hanging Rock State Park is a simple, peaceful escape.
