Beech Mountain Ski Resort
This ski resort town is also the highest town located in the Eastern United States! At over 5000 feet in elevation right on top of a mountain.In the winter time it has some of the best skiing to rival Aspen,Lake Tahoe,and Squaw Valley. In the fall a Wizard of Oz festival is held on the mountain at the former site of a Wizard of Oz themepark that was in business in the 1970s. Many of the original artifacts are still there bit have been vandalized and chipped away at,especially the Yellow Brick Road. It is also rumored that many celebrities have houses in these mountains as well. One such case is Elvis Presley. For years it has been rumored he had a secret estate here in the North Carolina hills more specifically Beech Mountain. Dolly Parton and Danny Devito are some more rumored names. One thing you will not find in this mountain village is commercialism. There are no McDonald's,Walmarts,or other fast food joints or grocery stores for at least five to ten miles until you get off the mountain. The nearest walmart is like twenty miles away. All stores and restaurants in the village are all privately owned and operated. And yes you actually have to drive the over five thousand foot elevation road to get to the village so you better have a four wheel drive vehicle to get you there.
Grandfather Mountain State Park
Grandfather Mountain is one of the first state parks in North Carolina. One of.the things that makes this mountain so special is that its a mile high mountain on the Eastern coast of the United States. The park has a small zoo with river otters,mountain bobcats,and black bears. There is also a fudge and ice cream shop on top of the mountain as well as its most famous attraction the Mile High Swinging Bridge which goes right across the peak of the mountain. The original bridge has been remodeled and replaced by a steel structure bridge rather than the old swing bridge that used to cross it for safety reasons. A subtle hit it can be very windy up there. Unlike most state parks this one does charge admission. I think it's by the carload but im not sure.
Mayberry/Mount Airy
If you have ever watched "The Andy Griffith Show" you would know that the show itself is set in a fictional town in North Carolina called Mayberry. The town on the show is actually based on Andy Griffith's real life hometown of Mount Airy,North Carolina. And the town does take pride in it. But the real town and the town on tv has some differences. In the show the town was located in Eastern North Carolina near Raleigh and Fayetteville. In real life the town of Mount Airy is right near the North Carolina/Virginia borders in the western part of the state near Winston Salem and Greensboro. The real Mount Airy is a modern town with modern conviences such as a WalMart,Kmart,Mall,ChickFilA,McDonald's etc... The tv show town had no modern conveniences and was nothing more than a small one horse town with a couple restaurants, a movie theater,sherriffs office and jail, butcher,small grocery store,and pharmacy with a soda fountain. Any outside travel such as to Raleigh or Charlotte was done by bus or train. The town does celebrate the fandom of the show that still lives in in the South every year with the Mayberry Days festival which is usually held in the fall of the year. During this time a three day weekend festival full of parades,games,contests,show themed performances, and other food and souvenirs line the streets of Downtown Mount Airy. During the year the tourism based on the show still lives on with squad car tours,tours of the Andy Griffith house and Museum,visits to the Snappy Lunch diner made famous by the show,and the barber shop which the barber shop on the show was named after which is still in business even after being opened in the 1930s. There are other sites related to the show as well,but it would take a long time to get through them all.
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
This railway line takes people on tours of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountain ranges of North Carolina. Thess train rides last most of the day. They aren't cheap though depending on what car you sit in and whether you take a diesel locomotive or steam locomotive pulled train. The views are beautiful though and during the day they make stops to little villiages for opportunities to take photos,go rafting,shop in the village shops and go on picnics. There is also a snack bar and bar on board the train for drinks on the rails. During the holiday season they have the special Polar Express themed train which retells the whole story of The Polar Express from beginning to end. Which actually features kids wearing pajamas and the chefs bringing out hot chocolate to all the guests and every child gets a bell from Santa Claus just like in the movie! The only difference is unlike the movie and book the locomotive is a diesel.
Tweetsie Railroad. North Carolina's first Themepark .
Present day
The 1950's and 60's when the park first opened.
This place is very near to me because my grandfather worked here for many years. This themepark has been around since 1957. The train itself has been in operation though for more than 100 years. The train itself was once part of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad which ran from Johnson City,Tennessee to Boone North Carolina daily from 1914 till around 1954. That was a daily route of 66 miles both ways.The reason for the name Tweetsie is the shrill sound of the whistle the train made as the whistle blowed. Here is a video of the train leaving the station with both of the parks locomotives pulling the train and whistling.
The railway ceased operation in the 1950s after a devastating hurricane blew through the mountain areas which caused a lot of flooding in the area washing away the tracks. After the floods the train was destined for the scrap heap. That was until Gene Autry the famous movie cowboy bought the old.locomotive originally to use in the movies. But,a North Carolina business tycoon had better plans for tge engine and Mr. Autry sold the tycoon the engine for $1. The idea was to open a scenic railroad in the Blue Ridge Mountains to restore the train to its former glory. So in 1957 the park held its grand opening. The first couple of years the train took people to a picnic and lookout spot theb backed down the mountain again. In 1959 the park changed its format and added tracks all the way around the mountain and incorporating a Wild West theme made popular at the time by TV shows and movies such as :Rio Bravo.Gunsmoke,Bonanza and others. The train ride also became a theatrical performance of a faux train robbery and Native American attack . The performance to this day still holds the format with faux shootouts (the bullets are blanks),Native American encounters,and saloon shows just like in the old west. The shows nowdays are very family friendly as opposed to the 60s when the park was new. In the beginning the Native Americans would hop aboard the train cars and pretend to threaten to scalp the passengers. But back then there was no politically correctness so it was considered family friendly. Nowdays there are carnival style rides such as a ferris wheel,scrambler,tilt a whirl,chairlift that takes you up thr mountain to pan for fools gold and other gems,a small train, a petting zoo, a observattion deck and playground. If you don't feel like braving the chair lift you can walk up the hiking trail or ride the bus up. There is also a fake jail where you can have your picture made, an old west photo studio where you csn have photos made in old timey western costume, a blacksmith,General store,wood sign maker, fudge and candy shop that.makes its own candy and fudge,plus other restaurants like any other themepark. During Halloween season they also dress the train up in costume and run it at night like a haunted train. There is also the carnival rides,haunted house,haunted forest, and people with chainsaws.
The Carolina Beaches
This is my favorite part of North Carolina,the beach. In the northern coast of the state you will find the Outer Banks where the lighthouses and memorial to the Wright Brothers first flight took place in Kitry Hawk .
Down in the middle coastal area is the city of Jacksonville with the US Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune.
In the Southern coast of NC is the major port city of Wilmington. A lot.of movies and tv shows have been filmed there. One popular attraction there is the World War Two battleship USS North Carolina. And the State aquarium. In order to get there you have to take your car on a ferry boat. The beaches of North Carolina sometimes include boardwalks just like in California or.New Jersey. With the old style carnival rides,junk food stands,gift shops,arcades, and oldies and beach music blaring out on the speakers just like the 50s and 60s.
There's a lot of other attractions hwre in North Carolina I will mention later because I have ran out of room to posr pictures. But I hope you have enjoyed looking at the beauty and splendor of my home state. If you enjoy reading @CHARismatic110 's about Philadelphia and @Ginnyweasley97 's mytake about Nevada then you woll also enjoy my others im about to write in the future. Let me know what you think!
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