Blogs · @wyome
Tagged north carolina · everything
Jon G's brings Texas-style barbecue traditions to Peachland, North Carolina, operating from a brick-and-mortar location after starting as a food truck, and has built a reputation for smoked meats and sides that draw enough customers to regularly sell out. The piece emphasizes that quality barbecue depends equally on careful preparation and the community of people who gather to eat it, with the restaurant also offering catering services for events.
A community driven brewery and taproom located in the River Arts District.
Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, aggregated from sources all over the world by Google News.
A native's profile of Flora Botanical Living, a West Asheville plant shop-turned-gathering-space founded by Melissa Thomas, tracing its evolution from a home-based floral studio into a hybrid boutique, design studio, wine and coffee bar, and workshop venue. It highlights the shop's curated, sensory approach—locally grown flowers, artisan goods, a flower bar, and even an overnight barn stay on a working farm—as an antidote to Asheville's more high-energy attractions. Worth keeping as a specific recommendation for a slow, tactile detour in a city usually associated with hiking and breweries.
Fifteen coffees from 13 roasters across nine states earned the 2026 [[Good Food Awards]], which recognize exceptional flavor alongside rigorous standards for traceability, environmental stewardship, and equitable sourcing. Winners range from floral Ethiopian single‑origins to innovative processed lots and blends, and highlight long‑term producer partnerships and expert roasting. Notable honorees include [[Little Waves Coffee Roasters]] for its [[Rio Dulce Gesha, Cafe 1959]], two‑time winner [[Magnolia Coffee]], multi‑awardee [[Crimson Coffee]], and single winners such as [[Equator Coffees]], [[Linea Caffe]], [[Keia & Martyn’s Coffee]], [[Mikava]], and [[Boxcar Coffee Roasters]]. The awards, now administered within the [[Specialty Food Association]], emphasize seed‑to‑cup transparency and fair pay, underscoring how sourcing practices, farmer relationships, and thoughtful processing shape standout specialty coffees. North Carolina led with three winners, and eligibility covers waste management and Fair Trade–level pay.
A Travel + Leisure travel guide to Holden Beach, North Carolina, written partly from personal childhood nostalgia and told through the perspective of a local third-generation Hobbs Realty operator. It profiles the barrier island as a deliberately unflashy, family-oriented alternative to busier Brunswick Islands destinations like Myrtle Beach, highlighting beachcombing for "sea biscuits," sunset cruises, Calabash-style seafood spots like Provision Company and Dock House, and vacation-rental-heavy lodging options. Worth keeping as a practical, locally-sourced itinerary and eating/staying reference rather than a broader trend or news piece.
Lake James State Park in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains offers a scenic and accessible retreat featuring a 6,800-acre reservoir with clear turquoise waters ideal for fishing, swimming, and water sports. The state park provides three campground options ranging from $20–$30 per night, including a secluded peninsula accessible only by kayak, plus over 30 miles of hiking and biking trails with views of the surrounding mountains. Located about an hour from Asheville and accessible year-round with free day-use admission, the park combines outdoor recreation with convenient access to major regional airports.
This guide recommends five rooftop bars in Asheville, North Carolina for sunset viewing, selected by a local resident based on personal experience and online reviews. Each bar offers distinct advantages: Wildwood Still provides unobstructed western-facing mountain views and premium whiskey selections; The Observatory combines botanical aesthetics with spritz cocktails; Hemingway's Cuba features a massive terrace and Cuban cuisine; Capella on 9 showcases both mountain vistas and distinctive city architecture; and Flat Iron Rooftop offers panoramic views paired with upscale Italian food and wine. The recommendations prioritize combinations of scenic views, quality cocktails, and atmospheric qualities suited to sunset experiences.
Newton, North Carolina, is a small historic town of 13,500 people located midway between Asheville and Greensboro that offers carefully preserved downtown architecture, community-driven events, and local dining and shopping concentrated along its Main Avenue and surrounding streets. The downtown's National Register–listed buildings from the 1920s–1930s house businesses alongside cultural institutions like the Catawba County Museum of History, while the community maintains an active social calendar featuring theater productions, festivals, and concerts at the Frank and Sue Jones Amphitheatre. Its location makes it accessible as either an overnight destination with charming bed-and-breakfast inns or a day trip from larger nearby cities.
The Michelin Guide's 2025 expansion into the American South includes North Carolina, which earned significant recognition with one Michelin star, seven Bib Gourmand awards, and 39 recommended restaurants. The author toured four major North Carolina cities—Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham—to sample standout restaurants ranging from casual seafood counters and wine bars to fine-dining establishments, highlighting how the state offers diverse cuisines from Southern comfort food and Italian to Indian, Croatian, and Louisiana cooking. The restaurants showcase local Appalachian and Carolina ingredients while blending regional traditions with innovative techniques and international influences.
Sam Jones BBQ operates two North Carolina locations specializing in whole hogs smoked daily on-site and chopped fresh, served with traditional Southern sides. The restaurants offer dine-in service, catering, private event space, and online shipping, along with a rewards program and a "BBQ Bingo" promotional game.
Sandra Aguirre founded Latinos Aventureros, a 7,000-member bilingual hiking group in western North Carolina, after discovering that mountain hiking helped her recover from depression following her divorce. What began as personal hikes with her three children evolved into weekly group outings focused on introducing the BIPOC community to outdoor recreation across the Blue Ridge Mountains region. The piece includes Aguirre's personalized guide to Asheville, featuring her favorite spots for coffee, swimming holes, sunsets, restaurants, and breweries.
Highway 19E, a 60-mile stretch of North Carolina and Tennessee backroad north of Asheville, connects eight major outdoor destinations within 25 minutes of the main road, including Mount Mitchell (the highest point east of the Mississippi), Linville Gorge, Grandfather Mountain, and sections of the Appalachian Trail known for exceptional hiking and scenery. The piece details each attraction—from strenuous mountain hikes and wilderness camping to waterfalls, mysterious Brown Mountain Lights, and world-class trout fishing—with practical information about trailheads, difficulty levels, permits, and seasonal considerations for planning a multi-stop adventure through southern Appalachia.
Asheville, North Carolina has emerged as a premier drinking destination in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with venues ranging from craft cocktail bars to breweries to music venues. The article profiles specific establishments across the city—including Little Jumbo (famous for its old-fashioned), The Golden Pineapple (tiki-inspired cocktails and food), The Odd (dive bar and cultural hub), and several others—each offering distinct atmospheres and specialties. The piece is designed as a practical guide for visitors planning a trip during events like the Asheville Herb Festival or the city's year-round Friday evening gatherings.
This is a curated guide to 18 restaurants across Charlotte representing various cuisines, price points, and styles, from the historic Original Chicken & Ribs (the only remaining Green Book establishment in the city) to fine dining destinations like the Michelin-starred Counter- and newly acclaimed spots like Rada and Albertine. The list reflects Charlotte's cultural growth, with additions highlighting Mediterranean, Spanish-Italian, Vietnamese, Szechuan, and high-end omakase options alongside Southern heritage cooking and wood-fired Mediterranean fare. The selection emphasizes both established neighborhood institutions and newer arrivals that signal the city's expanding culinary sophistication and economic development.
In 1985, Tim Hennis was convicted of murdering Katie Eastburn and her two young daughters in North Carolina, but was acquitted at retrial in 1989 after the prosecution's key witness proved unreliable and physical evidence failed to match him. Twenty years later, DNA testing of sperm samples found in the victim's body matched Hennis, leading the Army to recall him from retirement and court-martial him for the murders despite his civilian acquittal—a controversial use of military jurisdiction that raises questions about double jeopardy and whether scientific evidence alone should override a civilian jury's verdict. The case remains under appeal, with Hennis's lawyers arguing the military lacked jurisdiction and legal scholars divided on whether the extraordinary circumstance of exoneration followed by court-martial sets a dangerous precedent.
After the 2010 census, Republican-controlled legislatures across the South—particularly in North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas—have aggressively used redistricting to pack African American voters into heavily Democratic majority-minority districts while diluting their influence in swing districts, effectively resegregating the region along racial lines after decades of progress toward integration. Rather than simply maximizing Republican seats through standard partisan gerrymandering, this strategy deliberately isolates black voters to weaken the Democratic Party as a multiracial coalition, eliminate white Democrats, and reduce overall minority political power—essentially reversing civil rights era gains and using the Voting Rights Act itself as legal cover for racial discrimination. The consequences are stark: in states like North Carolina, Democrats could lose control of Congressional representation despite winning nearly half the statewide vote, while black elected officials face their lowest influence since the civil rights era.
PHP Appalachia is an informal three-day camping gathering for PHP developers held in Cherokee, North Carolina in September 2006, featuring no formal agenda or speakers but rather casual knowledge-sharing in a mountain setting. The event costs only $15 to register and includes a t-shirt, with affordable lodging and meal options available both at the KOA campground and nearby hotels. Attendees can enjoy recreational activities like whitefish pond fishing, whitewater rafting, and horseback riding alongside discussions about PHP and related technologies.