Washington DC: Wehave lived in North Carolina for eight years and have had Washington DC on our "places to drive to" for the weekend. This year we did it. A six hour drive to the Capitol city. And, had a great time. Just take a good pair of walking shoes and you will find yourself steeped in the history of our country. Memorial Day weekend was extra special as there were so many celebrations going on honoring all our war veterans. We started our trip with an 8 hour tour that gave us a overview of all the museums to see and other points of interest. The next two days we got our map out made a plan and visited all the places that were of interest to us. Some of the places we visited were the Capital, the White House, many of the memorials .... Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, World War II, Vietnam, Muesum of American History, Museum of Space and Aviation, Georgetown. You could spend a week there and not see everything. Next time the gardens and art galleries will be on my list. Just such a inspirational place to go and makes you proud to be an American. Also, great restaurants!
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Lincoln Memorial Capitol World War II Memorial
Bill & Melissa Ziegler
(The kids)
Asheville, North Carolina: If you want to stay in North Carolina and drive for about two hours from Charlotte, Asheville is a great destination. Asheville is always a great place to strool - downtown there are galleries, shops and eateries to sample. Or, walk through the Monford area just north of the business district, on the other side of 1-240 between cumberland and Montford Avenues. It was built between the 1880's and the 1920's, a time when Ashevill mushroomed as an upscale vacation destination and is loaded with sizeable Queen Anne's Colonial Revivals, sturdy bungalows and more. Much of Montford was made a Historic District and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The neighborhood is full of Bed & Breakfasts. And, up the street is the famous Biltmore Estate and Winery. For more go to, www.exploreasheville.com.
Downtown Asheville,NC
Galax, Virginia; a couple of hours drive from Charlotte. Galax is the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The city is rich with tradition, shopping, recreation and scenic beauty. Galax offers everythig from a quaint downtown shops to hiking and old time Bluegrass Music Festival, Fiddler's Convention as well as the New River Train. Required Dining ... The Galax Smokehouse, on North Main which has all variety of smoked pork and (very heavenly) smoked mashed potatoes. For more got to ... www.visitgalax.com.
Happy Traveling this summer. This is another thing that makes the Charlotte-Lake Norman area so great, as we are a doorstep away from so much history and beauty and activities.