Five towns — plus outdoor pursuits, artistic endeavors, and delicious provisions and libations — to explore on your next trip west.
christmas tree
How to Keep Your Christmas Tree Fresh All Season Long
Take these six steps and you’ll be able to preserve your beautiful tree through the holidays.
Our State Knows Best: Christmas Trees
Find out what three experts have to say about picking the perfect Christmas tree, the magic of creating a holiday tradition, and why a North Carolina-grown tree will always beat the one in the box.
North Carolina Symbols of the Season
Make it a Carolina Christmas: From the mountains to the coast, we found our state’s icons — official and honorary — in their best holiday dress.
The Finest Firs
At the Pinehurst Festival of Trees, wander through a forest of exquisitely decorated Christmas trees — and share the spirit of the season with children in need.
A Core Sound Christmas
With a name like Nick, this Down East businessman may have been destined to invent a new kind of Christmas tree.
A Story Behind Every Christmas Tree Ornament
Handmade from Popsicle sticks and macaroni, or preserved from generations past: An ornament represents a story, a memory, a treasured entry on the timeline of our lives.
The Unlikely Ornament King of Gastonia
The true story of how a Jewish man from Gastonia became the world’s largest maker of Christmas ornaments, and so much more.
In Pursuit of the Perfect Pine: 6 North Carolina Christmas Tree Farms
The best family traditions don’t come ready-made. They’re hard-won, full of promise, but messy — just like the holidays. A Christmas tree hunt in the North Carolina mountains is no exception.