2023
UPDATED WEEKLY
The Leaf Peeper’s Guide to the North Carolina Mountains
Before you head out leaf peeping this fall, check in weekly to see what colors our experts are seeing at 25 of our favorite mountain spots.
DECEMBER
Christmas Treat of the Day Newsletter
Want to wake up to a tasty surprise every morning this holiday season? Each day from December 1 through Christmas Day, we’ll send a recipe for one of our favorite festive treats straight to your inbox. Think of it as a delicious advent calendar!
The 12 Days of Christmas, Reimagined
We took some, ahem, creative liberties when we combed through Our State’s archives to find a few favorite stories that carry the tune of a Christmas classic.
Grandma’s Pecan Puffs
These buttery, flaky cookies are studded with chopped pecans and double-coated in powdered sugar.
3 Urban Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
NOVEMBER
North Carolina Oysters
Whether salty or sweet, eaten raw or roasted, North Carolina’s oysters rise above the rest. Make the most of the season by learning more about our mighty mollusk.
Video: NC Icons: Oysters
Nothing beats a North Carolina oyster plucked straight from the saltwater. Just ask Morehead City restaurateur Sammy Boyd.
3 Boardwalk Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
18 Essential North Carolina Recipes
Make some of our state’s most classic dishes — from Carolina dogs to strawberry sonker — in your own kitchen.
14 Absolutely Delicious Apple Recipes for Fall
After your trip to the orchard, get in the kitchen to make one of these sweet or savory recipes featuring the favorite fall fruit.
6 Ways to Reinvent Thanksgiving Leftovers
After the first feast and the post-nap plate, discover six recipes to use up your Thanksgiving leftovers.
An Our State Playlist: Music Out of Chapel Hill
Gone to Carolina in your mind? Listen to 20 songs that represent this college town’s long-thriving music scene.
OCTOBER
Video: NC Icons: Trout Fishing
Anglers come from all around to fish the cold, clear waters of the Great Smoky Mountains, where trout is the prize.
3 Mountain Trails for a Leaf-Peeping Bike Ride
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
SEPTEMBER
Video: NC Icons: Pawpaws
This odd native fruit had been all but forgotten — but a farmer in Watauga County is singing its praises.
3 Paddling Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
AUGUST
Video: NC Icons: Chimney Rock
Shaped by the wind and battered by storms, the iconic rock formation overlooking Lake Lure and Hickory Nut Gorge remains an enduring symbol of our state.
3 Kid-Friendly Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
Video: Lump Crab Cakes with Dijon-Dill Sauce
We love blue crabs for the important part they play in our state’s fishing industry — and for their unbeatable flavor.
Video: Fish & Corn Chowder
This creamy summer chowder is chock-full of corn, white fish, potatoes, and bacon.
Video: Shrimp and Pasta Supper
Tender shrimp, vibrant veggies, and penne pasta come together in this super creamy seafood supper.
An Our State Playlist: Gather ’Round
Shall we gather? Listen to our curated Spotify playlist featuring 10 songs by North Carolina artists about reunions, togetherness, and coming home.
JULY
Video: NC Icons: Peaches
Nothing beats the sweet promise of a summer peach grown in the Sandhills. At Kalawi Farm in Eagle Springs, a third-generation peach farmer ensures the tradition lives on.
3 Mountain Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
13 Homegrown Fruit Festivals
Celebrate a bounty of berries, melons, peaches, figs, muscadines, and apples at fun North Carolina festivals from mountains to coast.
An Our State Playlist: NC Rocks!
Turn up the volume on our curated Spotify playlist that’s filled with rock ’n’ roll tunes by North Carolina musicians from the 1950s to the 2000s.
JUNE
The Our State Archives
Dig through past issues of the magazine in a digital archive that spans nine decades, from the 1930s through the 2010s.
17 Our State Covers Through the Decades
Take a scroll through time — and get a peek at how our design has changed over the last 90 years — as you browse a selection of beautiful covers.
7 Vintage Games, Crossword Puzzles, and Quizzes from the Our State Archives
Think you’re a North Carolina trivia master? Test your knowledge with retro games from way back when.
Video: NC Icons: Our State Magazine
Us? An icon? Well, after 90 years and more than 2,000 issues celebrating North Carolina from mountains to coast, we hope you’ll agree that we’ve earned the title.
Three Coastal Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
An Our State Playlist: Carolina Beach Music
Whether you’re shagging, sailing, fishing, or simply relaxing in the shade of an umbrella, let our curated Spotify playlist be the soundtrack of your vacation.
8 Public Gardens Perfect for a Picnic
This spring, roll out a blanket among the blooms in these beautiful gardens across the state.
MAY
Video: NC Icons: Barbecue
’Cue is our state’s signature sustenance, but with two distinct styles — eastern and Lexington — that’s typically where our agreement ends. Luckily, no matter which side of this delicious rivalry you fall on, barbecue is a food that brings people together.
Three Easy State Park Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
7 Cheerwine Recipes
Don’t just drink your Cheerwine — eat it, too! From cakes to pies to cocktails, you can incorporate this crimson Tar Heel treasure into your next kitchen creation.
9 Recipes for Your Strawberry Bounty
Celebrate strawberry season by making shortcake, pound cake, ice cream, strawberry pretzel salad, and more.
6 Cool Exhibits From Mountains to Coast
From fossil pits to a helicopter simulator, the littlest Carolinians will discover wonder at these one-of-a-kind museum exhibits across the state.
An Our State Playlist: Gardens & Growth
This spring, queue up tunes about blooms and hone your green thumb as you listen to our curated Spotify playlist featuring 10 songs by North Carolina artists.
APRIL
Video: NC Icons: The Appalachian Trail
A record-setting hiker and North Carolina native reflects on what makes our state such an iconic part of the most famous hiking trail in the world.
Three Trails for Backpacking
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
12 of Our Best Buttermilk Recipes
Whether you’re using it to add a familiar tang to your pound cake or to marinate fried chicken, buttermilk is a Southerner’s secret ingredient.
An Our State Playlist: Lost & Found
Listen to 10 North Carolina artists as they contemplate lost love, new-found spirituality, and more in our curated Spotify playlist.
MARCH
Video: NC Icons: The Legend of Methuselah
Deep in the remote Three Sisters Swamp of the Black River stands an ancient old-growth forest. For decades, a famed bald cypress, dated to 372 AD and known as Methuselah, was its patriarch — until two even older trees were discovered.
Three Riverside Trails
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
FEBRUARY
Video: NC Icons: Pottery
In a state naturally rich in red clay, potters like the legendary Sid Luck carry on a long-held North Carolina tradition.
Three Paved Greenways in the Piedmont
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
An Our State Playlist: The Roots of Jazz in North Carolina
Listen to our curated Spotify playlist featuring a selection of tunes by homegrown jazz legends and the modern musicians they inspired.
Seven Uniquely North Carolina Soups & Stews
From a mountain buttermilk soup to a comforting coastal chowder, these seven recipes that we claim as our own will keep you warm this winter.
JANUARY
Video: NC Icons: Textiles
In the 19th and 20th centuries, hundreds of textile mills supported a booming industry that created entire communities, turned North Carolina into a manufacturing powerhouse, and helped to weave the very fabric of our state.
Three Trails for Winter Bird-Watching
Each month, we’re celebrating North Carolina’s official Year of the Trail by exploring amazing places to hike, bike, walk, and play across the state.
An Our State Playlist: Carolina Classical
This winter, cozy up indoors with our curated Spotify playlist featuring performances by North Carolina symphonies, composers, and contemporary classical-pop artists.
16 Cozy Casseroles to Warm You Up This Winter
Cheesy, creamy, bubbly — these one-pan wonders will keep you toasty on a chilly day.
