Monday, May 14, 2007

Quick hits: Manteo as 'Mayberry' and great places for family reunions

The Making of Mayberry on the Outer Banks
"... Manteo has attracted second-home owners and retirees by recasting itself from a dying fishing village into a slice of small-town America, a place that its most famous resident, Andy Griffith, says is more like Mayberry than anywhere else," writes the New York Times.

"But with the success, it has had to wrestle with issues of gentrification, affordable housing and zoning while facing a wave of building and rising real estate prices. ..."

The Best Places to hold your Family Reunion
"... Summer is creeping closer, and that means the cousins are coming: It’s family reunion season," writes MSN Travel. "Sometimes the groups are small—perhaps just parents, children and grandchildren. Other times reunions become lavish affairs where hundreds celebrate their shared history. From mountain lodges to luxury cruises, your reunion can be as unique as your extended family. ...

"More vast than the campgrounds are the 390 sites overseen by the National Park Service. The most popular of the bunch is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which covers 800 square miles in Tennessee and North Carolina. About 9.3 million people go there a year, spokesman Bob Miller says. From the vistas (there are hundreds of miles of hiking trails) to the wildlife (bears, deer and elk are often spotted), this park is a good site for an inexpensive family reunion. Most visitors stay in nearby cities such as Bryson City, N.C., Gatlinburg, Tenn., or Townsend, Tenn., and picnic in the park’s large pavilions. There are no entrance fees and, Miller proudly proclaims, about a third of the U.S. population can drive to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in a day. ..."

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