Travel NC

The Asheville Wine and Food Festival In August

The Asheville Wine  and Food Festival is August 20-22, 2015. The festival is a great way to sample wine and food from the Asheville area. discover local as well as international wineries, beers and breweries, area distilleries, chefs, restaurants, farmers, cookbook authors and artisan food products all in one place in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville is located in the foothills of the western North Carolina mountains. Events will take place all three days including wine tasting, food tasting and competitions.

A general admission ticket cost $65 and gets you into all the exhibitors and vendors, hundreds of wines, breweries, distilleries, restaurants and food producers. The Asheville Wine & Food
Festival takes place at the US Cellular Center (all three levels). Events include Asheville Scene Chefs Challenge, Blind Wine Tastings, Blind Beer Tasting, Culinary Demonstrations, Mixology Demonstrations, Meet the Culinary Cookbook plus so many more.

The Festival Wine Competition is a “regional competition for commercial wines from North Carolina and the Appalachian region and an opportunity for professional evaluation of
non-commercial wines submitted by emerging winemakers”  states the Festival Founder and Director Bob Bowles.

Just some of the exhibitors at the festival include Wholesale Foods Market Asheville, Adalgio Vineyards, Addison Farms Vineyards, Samuel Adams, Beer City Truffles, City Bakery, John C. Campbell Folk School, Kitchen & Company, Omni Resorts The Grove Park Inn, Panacea Coffee Company, Sunny Point Cafe, Fire Walker Hot Sauce, North Carolina Wine Gift plus many more! For more information about the festival or for details on the competitions see Asheville Wine & Food Festival.

This is the 7th year for the Asheville Wine & Food Festival. Asheville is an exciting city with festivals and special events happening year-round. It’s a lovely city with the North Carolina mountains and valleys situated all around the city. No matter what time of year it is Asheville is a must-place to visit in North Carolina. And don’t forget that autumn is just a couple of months away when the fall foliage puts on nature’s wonderous show in the mountains of North Carolina!

North Carolina Zoo Dino World Going On Now!

The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro has a special show going on now called Dino World. It will last until October of this year. While school is still out enjoy the last few weeks of summer and head to the North Carolina Zoo to catch this fun, interesting and educational show. It’s a Giant Prehistoric Adventure. Travel back in time and discover a forest of dinosaurs. The zoo is open daily from 9:00- 5:00. Dino World is located on the Adventure Trail in the Africa Region of the zoo. For more info about the exhibits see NC Zoo.

Celebrate July 4th in Castalia With Fireworks Fun Food and Music

The small town of Castalia in Nash County is known for putting on a great July 4th celebration. Come enjoy Independence Day and enjoy the festivities including a parade, music, car show, food, fun and a fantastic fireworks celebration at dark.The Castalia Independence Day Celebration last all day Saturday July 4, 2015. It kicks off at 9:00am and will continue all day with different activities then ends with a spectacular fireworks display at 9:15pm.

There is a car show from 9:00am-1:00pm put on by the Castalia Volunteer Fire Department and the Franklin County Cam Twisters Club. Classes of cars include antique/original. street rod, 4X4 trucks, pick up trucks, rat rods and race prepared. From 11:00am until closing there will be crafts and food vendors. At Small Town USA from 12:00-1:00pm there ill be an Honorary Veteran gathering to honor the area veterans. The Independence Day Parade starts at 2:00pm. The mayor of Castalia will welcome all at 3:30pm followed by The Pledge of Allegiance.

Music groups will sing starting at 3;45pm including the gospel group Ricky Simmons, contemporary gospel by Veil Torn Life, and other groups singing a variety of music (Faye Vick, Kevin Davis, Ronnie Ezzell and TAZZ). The all day celebration comes to an exciting end when the fireworks go off at 9:15 just after darkness.

Come join in on the fun in Castalia to celebrate Independence Day! Bring your chairs, blankets, friends, family and kids and enjoy a whole day of fun, food, music and a patriotic parade that makes us all proud to call the USA home!

The Lost Colony Outdoor Drama 2015 Season at the Outer Banks

The Outer Banks outdoor drama The Lost Colony is the nation’s longest-running outdoor drama. It plays every summer in June, July and August. The 2015 season of The Lost Colony runs May 29-August 22 nightly at 7:30PM except for Sunday nights at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island. First staged in 1937, the play written by Paul Green, has entertained summer vacationers for 76 seasons. Based on the first attempt the English made to settle the New World the play commemorates the 117 men, women and children who sailed in 1587 from Plymouth, England. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a small ship looking for “The New World”. After settling in the Outer Banks area, with food and supplies running low, John White, the governor and father of female colonist Eleanor Dare, returned to England for more supplies. Unable to return to the island for three years due to the war between England and Spain, he finally returns to the area in 1590 but there was no one at the fort. Only the letters “CRO” and “CROATAN” were carved into two trees-possibly meaning the colonists had left to join up with the local Croatan Indian tribe.

With colorful characters such as Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh, Eleanor Dare and her daughter Virginia Dare, the first English-born child, The Lost Colony is truly entertaining. The dancing, the singing, the sets, the costumes and the light-hearted story of Old Tom and Agonia plus the drama of the story all make for an educational and entertaining evening under the stars at the Waterfront Theatre.

The real story is still a mystery although new clues and recent research have led to what may have really happened to the “Lost Colony” in 1587. The colonist disappeared from Roanoke Island after attempting to establish the first English colony in America. A map made by Ralph Lane had two patches and under one patch is the symbol for a fort possibly marking where the settlers went. The symbol on the map is situated in present-day Bertie County, North Carolina. Then there is another theory that the colonist and at least some of the colonists traveled to what is now Hatteras Island and married and mingled into the Croatan Indian Tribe on the island. But the outdoor drama that plays out each summer at the Waterside Theatre on Roanoke Island is still moving and thought-provoking entertainment.