Since 1584, when the first English settlers arrived, North
Carolina has been entertaining travelers. With mountains, plains,
and coastal areas, the state's geography accommodates all types of
wanderlusts. There is skiing in the winter, gorgeous foliage tours
in the fall, and boating, swimming, and fishing in the spring and
summer.
And that's not to mention the wealth of activities. Virtually any
sporting event from race cars to football can be found here; museums
devoted to anthropology, art, and natural sciences abound, and both
the cities and small towns are meccas for all kinds of shopping.
The majority of North Carolina remains rural, though its cities
are of world-class quality. The state's history is also rich. It was
an original member of the thirteen colonies, a confederate
pacesetter in the Civil War, and a focal point for the Civil Rights
struggles of the 1960s. In the early 1900s, Wilbur and Orville
Wright took off on the first successful airplane flight ever from
North Carolina soil. Today, sentiment is divided between the
progressive urban developments and the more conservative rural
areas.
North Carolina was named in honor of King Charles; Carolinus
means "of Charles." Later, the state became known as the Tar Heel
State, either because of the state's tar production, or because of
the fact that during the Civil War, North Carolina soldiers who
couldn't stick their ground and hold off Union troops were said to
have forgotten to "tar their heels." Today, the University of North
Carolina is known as the Tar Heels.
The Carolina Coast is perhaps the most popular among tourist
destinations. Besides the spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean,
there are three aquariums to visit, historic sites like Somerset
Place near Creswell and six operating lighthouses (one about every
40 miles along its 300 miles of coast), and one of the earliest
wineries in the United States, the Duplin Winery in Duplin County,
which specializes in muscadine wine.
In the heartland, North Carolina's cities also keep visitors
entertained. Old Salem is a restored 18th-century Moravian town--the
first with public water, fire departments, and schools for girls in
America. Discovery Place in Charlotte is the largest museum of
science and technology in North Carolina, and is adjacent to the
Kelly Space Voyage Planetarium, the largest planetarium in the
country. In Raleigh, the North Carolina Museum of Art contains one
of the most distinguished collections of Old masters in the south.
In the summer, the mountains are a welcome respite from the
humidity and heat of the Carolina coast. Sliding Rock in
Transylvania County offers a 150-foot natural water slide. The Great
Smoky Mountains National Park, America's most popular, is a hot spot
for hiking and camping, and the Blue Ridge Parkway, the nation's
most scenic, affords travelers sweeping vistas of the mountains and
forests.
