The lights wrapped around the oak trees in downtown Forest City are part of an annual tradition that dates back to at least the 1920s. Today, while taking a ride in a horse-drawn carriage on weekends in December, “you almost feel like you’re in a snow globe,” says Amy Bridges, the downtown community development manager. “You can look up, and all you’ll see are the Christmas lights against the blanket of the dark sky.”
Click here for six more towns that twinkle during North Carolina’s holiday season.
Split-rail fences don’t shout “keep out.” They lean, they shift, they invite. And in western North Carolina, they remind us that some lines are meant to hold, not harden.
Each May, spring climbs nearly 3,000 feet to the seat of Alleghany County. Here, as the rhododendrons blush, a beloved mountain town welcomes visitors with its food, art, and flourish of color and creativity.
Brief but delicious, soft-shell crab season is cherished by diners as well as the folks who work around the clock to put these native pinchers on our plates.
When it comes to poultry, the best is raised close to home.
