When a couple from out of state ventured off the highway in search of a peaceful place to stop, they discovered musicians and makers, outdoor adventures, farm-to-table fare, and friendly neighbors.
Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar in Asheville
Raise a glass at this Paris-inspired bookstore and Champagne bar, where old-world European style meets old-school Southern hospitality.
Quiz: Vast Vistas
When fall arrives in North Carolina, we head west for vibrant foliage, miles of mountain views, and scenic overlooks to take it all in.
Making a Masterpiece
On a six-acre campus of renovated barns and an old covered bridge, The Bascom gives people from the rural western part of the state a chance to experience the awe of seeing fine art and the satisfaction of bringing their own creations to life.
Color Amid the Kudzu
In 1999, a crew of urban artists descended on rural Moore County, painted some 25 tobacco barns and other buildings, and then zipped back up to New York City. Two decades later, folks still drive to Cameron in search of these curious murals.
Follow the Barn Quilts
Like your grandmother’s narrative needlework, the growing patchwork of creative designs on rural outbuildings across the state tells a larger story.
Mountain Ripples
On a farm in a cove in the Smokies, a biologist turned cheesemaker is bringing a slice of woods back to life. Like a pebble tossed into a pond, every careful decision she makes, every creature she cares for, has a lasting effect on the forest she’s trying to save.
Humble Hideaway
Since 1983, hikers and wanderers traveling the pass between Roan and Hump mountains have taken refuge in a simple red barn known as the Overmountain Shelter. Little do they know, they’re following in the footsteps of revolutionaries.
The Barns of Madison County
Tobacco barns once dotted the Appalachian landscape in the thousands, before a government buyout in 2004 brought an end to that way of life. Now, passionate locals are recording their stories and giving these iconic structures a second chance.
