Every North Carolinian must ______

 

I don't recall what it was that spurred this thought, but the other day I wondered, "What are the quintessential things that every North Carolinian MUST do at least once?" 

It may have been an article about the dunes at Jockeys Ridge that had me thinking about it. Or it may have been a discussion about Sliding Rock. Regardless, what do you think are the things that should be givens if you are to call North Carolina home?

Here are a few off the top of my head, in addition to the aforementioned ones:

• Attend an ACC basketball game
• Visit the Biltmore House
• Enjoy barbecue at one of the holy cathedrals of 'cue
• Spend a day (or half-day) at Tweetsie Railroad
• Test out if the legend about The Blowing Rock is legit
• Pay a visit to Old Salem
• Enjoy a pork chop sandwich and the Mayberry sites in Mount Airy
• Watch an outdoor drama like "The Lost Colony," "From This Day Forward" or others
• Play Pinehurst No. 2 (or any other great course)
  

 

What else would you include on this list? Please share in the comments.

Sliding Rock image from Blue Ridge Mountain  Life

Pinehurst voted best golf resort -- in the world

The readers of Travel + Leisure magazine have named Pinehurst the top golf resort in the world. The resort even finds itself on the magazine's cover.

"Maybe it’s something in the renowned tradition of the pristine golf courses. Maybe it’s something in the serenity of the Sandhills pines," writes the Fayetteville Observer.

"Whatever it is, Pinehurst has a knack for invigorating people ... in a way that keeps them coming back for more."

“This is about what (Pinehurst) provides and how Pinehurst inspires the people that come here,” John Atwood, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, told the Observer.

Atwood acknowledged that while the golf experience was the primary consideration, other features such as staff courtesy and spa quality factored in.

This marks the second time in three years that Pinehurst has received the magazine’s top honor, no small feat considering some of the renowned competition — Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Pebble Beach in California, Kapalua on the island of Maui in Hawaii, just to name a few.

Don Padgett II, the president of Pinehurst, said he believes there’s something to be said for the quality of his resort in besting so many other wonderful venues.

“When you think about it, we don’t have any mountains. We don’t have the ocean,” Padgett said. “But what we do have is a tremendous golf facility and a lot of great people who create a special atmosphere that a lot of people want to be part of.”

U.S. Open to return to Pinehurst

Calling Pinehurst No. 2 one of the "core" golf courses for the U.S. Open, the U.S. Golf Association formally announced Monday that the 2014 Open will be played at "No. 2." It will be the third time in 15 years the course will host the tournament.

"Pinehurst waited 99 years to host its first U.S. Open in 1999," writes Stuart Hall. "But the success of that event, won by the late Payne Stewart, and a return trip in 2005, which was won by Michael Campbell, has made Pinehurst a growing favorite among USGA officials. ...

"Although the USGA has no formal rotation of courses that host the U.S. Open, unlike the Royal and Ancient Golf Club does with the British Open, a third national championship in such a short span validates the association's success with Pinehurst. No other course has hosted three U.S. Opens in a shorter span of time."

Quick hits: Shells, Scruggs and slices

Bill to preserve oyster shells moves ahead
"The state legislature is a step away from preventing a repeat of the oyster controversy that saw the N.C. Department of Transportation shelled with criticism earlier this year," according to the Wilmington Star-News.

"On Tuesday, the state House approved, 115-1, its final version of a bill that would prohibit any state government agency from using oyster shells in landscaping or highway beautification projects. ...

"The passage of the law will bring to an end an episode that began in March when roadside crews dumped 2,000 bushels of shells as part of a beautification project near the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge.

"The scene was also piled with irony as just a few hundred feet away was a popular drop-off site that is part of a statewide effort to collect shells for use in programs to restore the state's oyster fishery.

"As the shells went down, other state agencies were trying to increase awareness of oyster recovery efforts and the General Assembly had banned shells from landfills and was working on establishing oyster hatcheries at the state's aquariums. ..."

Pickin' and grinnin'
"Bluegrass great Earl Scruggs was in attendance as he and fellow Shelby native Don Gibson were honored by both the House and Senate [on Tuesday at the General Assembly]," according to the Associated Press. "The chambers passed a resolution celebrating Scruggs and Gibson, the country performer and songwriter who died in 2003, for their contributions to the arts and the prestige they brought to their home state.

" 'I'm really delighted and pleased to be here,' Scruggs told the Senate. 'My heart's always in North Carolina.'

"A number of lawmakers rose to praise the performers, with only Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, finding a downside to the proceedings: 'There's one thing missing from this bill -- a requirement for Earl Scruggs to play for the House today.' ..."

Take a Pinehurst 'sabbatical'
"How good a golfer could you become if you could take time off and really work on your game, with top-notch instruction, equipment and world-class places to play? For just a thousand bucks a day, you can now find out," blogs Larry Olmsted on USA Today.

"I get a lot of bizarre press releases and package 'deals' across my desk these days, but this one, from Pinehurst Resort, really stood out. On the one hand it is a lot of money, and very few readers will even be able to consider it halfway seriously. On the other hand, who wouldn’t want to try it? Especially since this is no gimmick destination, but rather the nation’s most storied golf resort, the first destination golf resort in the United States, the only place that has hosted the PGA Championship, the US Open and the Ryder Cup, and the closest thing we have to St. Andrews, an entire charming town that lives and breathes the spirit of the game.

"So what is this package? It is the Pinehurst Golf Sabbatical, and it was introduced to celebrate this year’s 100th birthday of the legendary Number Two course, the most revered of the eight layouts that make Pinehurst the nation’s largest golf resort, and the second largest in the world. Number Two hosts all the big tournaments and was the seminal work of Donald Ross, considered by many the greatest American designer (at least after he moved here from his native Scotland, living out his entire adult life in Pinehurst in a house alongside the course). ..."