The March 2024 Issue

Home to the tallest peaks along the near 2,200-mile route, North Carolina’s stretch of Appalachian Trail draws both thru-hikers and day-trippers for mountain views and tranquility.

For a couple in Brunswick County, turning their house into a home became quite the production. Now, its welcoming front porch sets the stage for neighborly visits.

A man built a reputation for welcoming locals and tourists outside a 125-year-old Craven County general store. Now, his daughters carry on the tradition.

Dreams come in all shapes and sizes. In Caswell County, a man’s aspirations took the form of a miniature rock-and-cement village.

At Lake Tomahawk and parks across the state, children follow along for story time in the great wide open, where their imaginations can run wild.

At the annual Carolina FiberFest, fiber fanatics gather in Raleigh to learn how past generations used yarn and lace in everyday apparel and as a creative outlet.

At a seafood restaurant in Forsyth County, meals of fried fish and hush puppies are the backbone of past and future family memories.

A famed Wilson County pitmaster, Ed Mitchell, shares the stories and recipes that fill his life and plate.

A movie theater in Madison County was once the place to go for a night out. After a 10-year hiatus, locals can now relive their cinematic memories with a cold one in hand.

As a professional chef, our recipe developer has cooked in many kitchens. The first, and most memorable, was the one in her childhood home.

Having grown up firmly on one side of the Great Barbecue Divide, a writer travels west to open her mind and expand her palate. In the Capital of ’Cue, she comes to a conclusion: It’s time to clear the air.

Dressed in a thin, tangy sauce and served with a side of red slaw, the signature style of barbecue in this city is worth the drive.

The beauty and tranquility of a former plantation in Washington County belie its fraught past. But Somerset Place is telling its history honorably.

During the Jewish holiday of Purim, congregants at Greensboro’s Temple Emanuel send a sweet message to older members of the community, reminding them that they are loved.

Hard to imagine, but 300 years ago, it would’ve been entirely possible to cross paths with wild bison in North Carolina. To search for them now is to journey into the historical record.

A writer discovers connections to his Appalachian past in the pages of a forgotten diary and among the headstones of a local cemetery, but deeper ties to past generations require a little more digging.

A tiny community at the confluence of two waterways in Beaufort County is where it all began for North Carolina.

A public library in Oxford holds clues to the past for the countless North Carolinians who can trace their roots to the area around Granville County.

A family in Surry County gathered every summer for a reunion to reconnect and celebrate together, but mostly to feast on dishes made by cousins, aunts, and uncles.

A rice festival in Brunswick County celebrates the crop that once thrived along our coast while reconnecting descendants of enslaved people with their past.

An auctioneer in Orange County not only sells precious art and other items gleaned from estates, but he also helps trace their ancestry and facilitate the return of some historic pieces to their rightful homes.

North Carolina’s dedication to public education is symbolized by a centuries-old tree in Chapel Hill — and the students who planted its offspring across the state 30 years ago.

When it comes to genealogy, legend often looms larger than fact. Especially when your great-uncle’s legacy is more infamy than fame.

Doc Watson’s legendary flat-picking style helped define the sound of North Carolina. But he would’ve been the first to say that he was one link in a long tradition of folk and bluegrass. Raised in a musical home in Deep Gap, his influence branched out far beyond Watauga County, welcoming new generations of musicians into the fold.

Forty songs that give a glimpse of Doc Watson’s life and legacy as an Appalachian folk singer, gifted musician, and pioneering flat-picker who created a distinctly signature North Carolina sound.