They’re still painful, but gas prices in the Triad have dropped slightly during the week. So reports today’s The Business Journal.
The average price of a gallon of regular in the Triad market dropped to $3.26 from $3.32 a week ago, the Journal said, basing its report on the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. A month ago, the cost was $3.42 in the Triad metro area, and it was $2.76 a year ago.
The average price in North Carolina dropped four cents during the week to $3.31. It was $3.42 a month ago. The national average is $3.30 per gallon this week, compared to $3.45 a month ago.
The full story is here.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
I'm Flying Here!
I received the following note from a good friend. I've never heard of Sylvan Heights, but I'll go soon!
Find the website at the end of this post.
Enjoy!
"Hey Paul,
Our family at large went to the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park in Scotland Neck, NC. It was a great, short drive, get away. The admission is $9 for adults and $5 for children, so it was reasonable, especially with the Groupon coupon I purchased a few weeks ago. The waterfowl are beautiful and it is so much better than a zoo because the birds are right there up close. Taking a camera is a must. I love parks where you have to decide if you will get close enough to get bit. There are warnings about the birds who bite, so it is up to you if you want to test the warning. It is great one day get-away with unique, beautiful, animals."
Check here for details: http://shwpark.com.
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Find the website at the end of this post.
Enjoy!
"Hey Paul,
Our family at large went to the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park in Scotland Neck, NC. It was a great, short drive, get away. The admission is $9 for adults and $5 for children, so it was reasonable, especially with the Groupon coupon I purchased a few weeks ago. The waterfowl are beautiful and it is so much better than a zoo because the birds are right there up close. Taking a camera is a must. I love parks where you have to decide if you will get close enough to get bit. There are warnings about the birds who bite, so it is up to you if you want to test the warning. It is great one day get-away with unique, beautiful, animals."
Check here for details: http://shwpark.com.
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Monday, November 21, 2011
Gotta Go: Wright Brothers Memorial
Next month marks the 108th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s great accomplishment, man’s first controlled flight in a heavier-than-air craft. Join the celebration.
On Dec. 17, the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, N.C., will hold its annual celebration of the first flight from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. It’s free. National Park Service rangers will lead a tribute at the exact place and time as the historic flight. You can also visit a replica of the brothers’ encampment; an extensive visitors center; and the soaring, 60-foot granite monument to the brothers’ feat.
Wright Brothers National Memorial is at mile post 7.5 on U.S. Highway 158. Here’s the website.
There’s more to do that weekend on the Outer Banks. Take in a home and gardens workshop and a kid’s craft day at Elizabethan Gardens. From 10 a.m. until noon, learn wreath making during the same time that children from 5 and over enjoy arts and craft and a stroll through the Gardens. Both have a cost and have limited enrollment. Visit this website for details.
At the Indoor Theatre at Roanoke Island Festival Park, UNC-Greensboro’s troup will perform “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in. It’s an opera about the biblical three Wise Men, and is performed internationally every Christmas season. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for those 12 and under. For details, click here.
On Dec. 17, the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, N.C., will hold its annual celebration of the first flight from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. It’s free. National Park Service rangers will lead a tribute at the exact place and time as the historic flight. You can also visit a replica of the brothers’ encampment; an extensive visitors center; and the soaring, 60-foot granite monument to the brothers’ feat.
Wright Brothers National Memorial is at mile post 7.5 on U.S. Highway 158. Here’s the website.
There’s more to do that weekend on the Outer Banks. Take in a home and gardens workshop and a kid’s craft day at Elizabethan Gardens. From 10 a.m. until noon, learn wreath making during the same time that children from 5 and over enjoy arts and craft and a stroll through the Gardens. Both have a cost and have limited enrollment. Visit this website for details.
At the Indoor Theatre at Roanoke Island Festival Park, UNC-Greensboro’s troup will perform “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in. It’s an opera about the biblical three Wise Men, and is performed internationally every Christmas season. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for those 12 and under. For details, click here.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Gotta Go...
OK, maybe it’s not the case that you GOTTA go to some of these events or destinations. But from time to time, I’ll post something called Gotta Go…places I think that you really ought to consider going. I’ll be careful. One traveler’s “gotta go” may be another traveler’s trip to nowhere. But they will be places that I think you’ll really enjoy.
Look for one soon, in fact.
Look for one soon, in fact.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Holidays By the Sea
A lake just a few hundred yards from the Atlantic Ocean is the focal point for the holiday festivities at this area in N.C. year. From the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, the towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach host the Island of Lights Festival. Beachgoers and visitors follow a one-mile path around Carolina Beach Lake to view displays built around the lake. On the first day, Nov. 25, free hot chocolate and cookies are served. Admission is free.
On Dec. 2, fishing and pleasure boaters decorate their crafts with thousands of lights for a water parade on the Intracoastal Waterway. The parade, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., cruises from Snows Cut to the Carolina Beach Boat Basin and back. The parade and parking is free.
Find all the details at www.islandoflights.org.
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On Dec. 2, fishing and pleasure boaters decorate their crafts with thousands of lights for a water parade on the Intracoastal Waterway. The parade, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., cruises from Snows Cut to the Carolina Beach Boat Basin and back. The parade and parking is free.
Find all the details at www.islandoflights.org.
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Monday, November 14, 2011
Enter to Win the High Country
The deadline is Nov. 30 to enter a drawing for a trip to the North Carolina High Country, aka, the state’s northern mountains. The sweepstakes is through VisitNC.com, North Carolina’s official travel and tourism website.
It’s an impressive prize package, enough for a couple or a family. It includes:
Two-night stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Boone
Four tickets to Tweetsie Railroad Theme Park
Four tickets to Grandfather Mountain
$100 gift certificate to the Storie Street Grille
$25 gift certificate to the Mast General Store
$25 gift certificate to Tanger Shoppes on the Parkway
Plus a $500 Visa gift card to help get you here
Go here to enter.
And good luck!
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It’s an impressive prize package, enough for a couple or a family. It includes:
Two-night stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Boone
Four tickets to Tweetsie Railroad Theme Park
Four tickets to Grandfather Mountain
$100 gift certificate to the Storie Street Grille
$25 gift certificate to the Mast General Store
$25 gift certificate to Tanger Shoppes on the Parkway
Plus a $500 Visa gift card to help get you here
Go here to enter.
And good luck!
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Friday, November 11, 2011
Local Leaf-Peeping
Leaf-peeping season is winding down in the upper elevations of Western Carolina. But there’s plenty of eye-popping color in the foothills and Piedmont regions.
Tell us the sections of roads in your county where the trees are putting on a brilliant show right now…with enough detail that interested travelers can easily find those areas.
Like U.S. Highway 501 in northern Durham County, beginning about two miles north of Latta Road until the Person County Line.
Or U.S. Highway 29 north of Reidsville.
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Tell us the sections of roads in your county where the trees are putting on a brilliant show right now…with enough detail that interested travelers can easily find those areas.
Like U.S. Highway 501 in northern Durham County, beginning about two miles north of Latta Road until the Person County Line.
Or U.S. Highway 29 north of Reidsville.
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Titanic Deal
The Natural Science Center of Greensboro has extended its run of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition for six week, through Jan. 8. Gives your family a chance to catch the popular exhibit through the holiday season.
Here's how the Center describes the exhibit:
"Beyond the authentic collection of artifacts recovered from the ocean floor, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition showcases emotional human stories from passengers who were aboard the Ship, captivating photographs and extensive room recreations. Visitors see what life was like for a 1st Class vs. 3rd Class passenger, touch an iceberg wall that simulates the temperature of the water that fateful night, and become one of the actual passengers who sailed on Titanic whereby they discover at the end whether they survived or perished."
April 2012 marks 100 years since the Titanic sank
General admission is $21 for adults and $20 for children 3 to 13.
Contact info: Titanic or call 336-288-3769.
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Here's how the Center describes the exhibit:
"Beyond the authentic collection of artifacts recovered from the ocean floor, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition showcases emotional human stories from passengers who were aboard the Ship, captivating photographs and extensive room recreations. Visitors see what life was like for a 1st Class vs. 3rd Class passenger, touch an iceberg wall that simulates the temperature of the water that fateful night, and become one of the actual passengers who sailed on Titanic whereby they discover at the end whether they survived or perished."
April 2012 marks 100 years since the Titanic sank
General admission is $21 for adults and $20 for children 3 to 13.
Contact info: Titanic or call 336-288-3769.
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Travel for a Tree
You don't have to travel far to make a Christmas memory. Or maybe start a holiday tradition.
Pack a snack, bundle up the kids, and head out into the brisk air to cut down your family's Christmas tree.
North Carolina is a leader in Christmas tree production, and 10 times since 1966, when the tradition began, a North Carolina tree has graced the White House. The mountainous western counties lead the state, but several cut-your-own Christmas tree farms dot the Piedmont.
In the center of the state, Boyce Farms at 2813 Mount Vernon Church Road, Raleigh, offers white pine and Leyland cypress varieties. Mistletoe Meadows Christmas Trees (formerly Pop-N-Son Christmas Tree Farm), is at 2518 Benson Road, Garner. Travel to Apex to find Jordan Lake Christmas Tree Farm at 2170 Martha's Chapel Road.
Two websites that provide lists of local cut-your-own farms are NC Christmas Trees and Pick Your Own Christmas Tree
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Pack a snack, bundle up the kids, and head out into the brisk air to cut down your family's Christmas tree.
North Carolina is a leader in Christmas tree production, and 10 times since 1966, when the tradition began, a North Carolina tree has graced the White House. The mountainous western counties lead the state, but several cut-your-own Christmas tree farms dot the Piedmont.
In the center of the state, Boyce Farms at 2813 Mount Vernon Church Road, Raleigh, offers white pine and Leyland cypress varieties. Mistletoe Meadows Christmas Trees (formerly Pop-N-Son Christmas Tree Farm), is at 2518 Benson Road, Garner. Travel to Apex to find Jordan Lake Christmas Tree Farm at 2170 Martha's Chapel Road.
Two websites that provide lists of local cut-your-own farms are NC Christmas Trees and Pick Your Own Christmas Tree
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Deal for First Responders, Vets
If you’re former military or a first responder (police officer, firefighter, EMT, paramedic or ambulance personnel) and have been thinking about a visit to Greensboro, go on Veteran’s Day. You can get a special admission rate to the Natural Science Center.
"Lifesaver" employees will receive a special $6 group admission rate to visit the Natural Science Center and Animal Discovery, and a $14 group admission rate to visit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition (admission also includes entry to the Museum and Animal Discovery).
To obtain the discount, "lifesavers" have to show valid ID as proof of vocation.
The offer is to people in the Triad, but Marketing Director Steffany Reeve says anyone in North Carolina who produces valid ID will be given the special pricing.
The Natural Science Center bills itself as three attractions in one destination: a hands-on science Museum (featuring a Dinosaur Gallery, Herpetarium and touch labs); Animal Discovery Zoological Park (featuring tigers, gibbons, wallabies, meerkats, lemurs and many other unique animals); and a state-of-the-art OmniSphere Dome Theater.
Veterans Day is Nov. 11. The Center is at 4301 Lawndale Drive. Call 336-288-3769 or visit www.natsci.org for details.
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"Lifesaver" employees will receive a special $6 group admission rate to visit the Natural Science Center and Animal Discovery, and a $14 group admission rate to visit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition (admission also includes entry to the Museum and Animal Discovery).
To obtain the discount, "lifesavers" have to show valid ID as proof of vocation.
The offer is to people in the Triad, but Marketing Director Steffany Reeve says anyone in North Carolina who produces valid ID will be given the special pricing.
The Natural Science Center bills itself as three attractions in one destination: a hands-on science Museum (featuring a Dinosaur Gallery, Herpetarium and touch labs); Animal Discovery Zoological Park (featuring tigers, gibbons, wallabies, meerkats, lemurs and many other unique animals); and a state-of-the-art OmniSphere Dome Theater.
Veterans Day is Nov. 11. The Center is at 4301 Lawndale Drive. Call 336-288-3769 or visit www.natsci.org for details.
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Christmas Past at Tryon
Christmas today bears little resemblance to how our colonial forebears celebrated the holiday. The folks at Tryon Palace in New Bern has a children's event that gives preschoolers a taste -- literally -- of Christmas in the 1700s.
The Palace's "Tryon's Tales for Tots: Twelve Days of Christmas" is for youngsters aged 3 to 5. Set for 10 a.m. on Dec. 14, parents can accompany their children on a visit to the John W. Stanly House on the Palace complex, where tots will learn how the Stanly family celebrated Christmas.
That includes playing a popular game of the season and decorating miniature, edible Twelfth Night cakes. Admission is $6 per child. Adults are free with regular admission.
A state historic site, Tryon Palace is the reconstructed home of King George's royal governor to the colony of North Carolina. The handsome home and administrative building was planned and built by Royal Gov. William Tryon. After the American war for independence, Tryon Palace was the site of the first sessions of the North Carolina state legislature and housed the state governors until 1794.
It burned down in 1798 but it was rebuilt in the 1950s and is one of the state's most popular tourist attractions.
New Bern is about 125 miles from Raleigh and 250 miles from Charlotte. It's a straightforward trip from most locations by taking Interstate 40 to U.S. 70 East
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Travelin' Money
My wife and I love to travel, especially to the coast and to cities steeped in history. But a journalist doesn't make travelin' money, and that was even more the case early in our marriage, and when our daughter was just a little thing.
But we've always traveled. How?
Early on, we received some wonderful advice that went something like this: You ought to decide what character your family will have, and then work to make that happen. On the ground, that meant for us to become a family that traveled. By necessity, that meant finding a way to make that happen financially.
Since we didn't have a lot of extra money lying around or flooding over the transom, we became intentional about saving for travel. It's easier than you think.
For instance, we got paid every other week, for a total of 26 paychecks. But we budgeted our mortgage on a 24-pay-period basis. What to do with the money from those extra two paychecks? We put it in a special fund, and used it to take quick long-weekend trips with our daughter. It worked for spring break, for instance. Or a fall trip to the beach. On occasion, we'd combine it with other funds for a longer vacation. The point is, it was a painless way to finance a get-away.
Another funding mechanism was our annual tax return. We intentionally set our withholdings slightly higher than they needed to be, so that we'd get several hundred dollars back each year. That went straight into our vacation fund, which financed our longer vacations. Sure, the federal government got to keep some of our income interest free for the year. But it was, again, a painless (but surefire) way for our family to have ready traveling money.
That's still one of our strategies. This year, we've spent a week at the beach in June and taken our extended family on a three-day trip to Fredericksburg, Mount Vernon and George Washington's Birthplace. Sweet!
Here's another idea:
If you and your spouse work, and each squirrel away just $5 a week for travelin', that's $10 a week, $40 a month, $120 a quarter. That'll get you a hotel room and a few dollars toward a tank of gas, to spend some family time far from the homestead for an overnight. Maybe to the foothills. Or Wilmington. Or a shopping trip to Concord.
Little things, in other words, add up to a road trip.
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But we've always traveled. How?
Early on, we received some wonderful advice that went something like this: You ought to decide what character your family will have, and then work to make that happen. On the ground, that meant for us to become a family that traveled. By necessity, that meant finding a way to make that happen financially.
Since we didn't have a lot of extra money lying around or flooding over the transom, we became intentional about saving for travel. It's easier than you think.
For instance, we got paid every other week, for a total of 26 paychecks. But we budgeted our mortgage on a 24-pay-period basis. What to do with the money from those extra two paychecks? We put it in a special fund, and used it to take quick long-weekend trips with our daughter. It worked for spring break, for instance. Or a fall trip to the beach. On occasion, we'd combine it with other funds for a longer vacation. The point is, it was a painless way to finance a get-away.
Another funding mechanism was our annual tax return. We intentionally set our withholdings slightly higher than they needed to be, so that we'd get several hundred dollars back each year. That went straight into our vacation fund, which financed our longer vacations. Sure, the federal government got to keep some of our income interest free for the year. But it was, again, a painless (but surefire) way for our family to have ready traveling money.
That's still one of our strategies. This year, we've spent a week at the beach in June and taken our extended family on a three-day trip to Fredericksburg, Mount Vernon and George Washington's Birthplace. Sweet!
Here's another idea:
If you and your spouse work, and each squirrel away just $5 a week for travelin', that's $10 a week, $40 a month, $120 a quarter. That'll get you a hotel room and a few dollars toward a tank of gas, to spend some family time far from the homestead for an overnight. Maybe to the foothills. Or Wilmington. Or a shopping trip to Concord.
Little things, in other words, add up to a road trip.
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Starting Out
There aren't many things I get really excited about. But my adreneline positively pumps whenever I think about a trip that we have planned. And we just LOVE to travel.
I'm a husband, father of one, granddad of 2 (soon to be 3) and a former newspaper journalist, and our little family always has put travel high on our priority list. Mostly it was to relax and to learn. We love visiting historic places, and when our daughter was young, we'd drive to New Bern for the day to tour Tryon Palace or to Greensboro to enjoy the Guilford Courthouse battle re-enactment or carve out several hours during a week at the coast to wander Fort Macon.
Sure, we've enjoyed Cape Canaveral and Chicago and Williamsburg, Va. But my wife and I really enjoy traveling the Carolinas. My wife is a North Carolina native, but I grew up in Philadelphia. Our beach was the "shore" at Atlantic City or Cape May, which are fine. But they're not North Carolina.
Emerald Isle enchanted me from the first time I saw its sea. We honeymooned on the Outer Banks. Our mothers both climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse alongside our teenage daughter during an extended family trip several years ago. One of my favorite memories is several days with my college-aged daughter in Hilton Head. We ate the best Greek food in the world at the Greek Festival in Charleston. My wife and I spent a night in a castle in the North Carolina mountains, and experienced total darkness in the heart of Linville Caverns.
We made a decision as a young couple to set aside money each year to travel, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.
We tend to take short trips, and we're frugal travelers -- mainly because we traveled on a journalist's pay. So that will be the focus of my blog. It will be about travel, traveling in and around the Carolinas, and traveling so as not to break your bank.
I hope you visit Nearly There often. Please send comments and suggestions for posts.
And I hope Nearly There energizes you to get there often...wherever "there" is for you and yours.
Here's a photo from a trip we took to the N.C. coast around New Year's 2009.
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I'm a husband, father of one, granddad of 2 (soon to be 3) and a former newspaper journalist, and our little family always has put travel high on our priority list. Mostly it was to relax and to learn. We love visiting historic places, and when our daughter was young, we'd drive to New Bern for the day to tour Tryon Palace or to Greensboro to enjoy the Guilford Courthouse battle re-enactment or carve out several hours during a week at the coast to wander Fort Macon.
Sure, we've enjoyed Cape Canaveral and Chicago and Williamsburg, Va. But my wife and I really enjoy traveling the Carolinas. My wife is a North Carolina native, but I grew up in Philadelphia. Our beach was the "shore" at Atlantic City or Cape May, which are fine. But they're not North Carolina.
Emerald Isle enchanted me from the first time I saw its sea. We honeymooned on the Outer Banks. Our mothers both climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse alongside our teenage daughter during an extended family trip several years ago. One of my favorite memories is several days with my college-aged daughter in Hilton Head. We ate the best Greek food in the world at the Greek Festival in Charleston. My wife and I spent a night in a castle in the North Carolina mountains, and experienced total darkness in the heart of Linville Caverns.
We made a decision as a young couple to set aside money each year to travel, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.
We tend to take short trips, and we're frugal travelers -- mainly because we traveled on a journalist's pay. So that will be the focus of my blog. It will be about travel, traveling in and around the Carolinas, and traveling so as not to break your bank.
I hope you visit Nearly There often. Please send comments and suggestions for posts.
And I hope Nearly There energizes you to get there often...wherever "there" is for you and yours.
Here's a photo from a trip we took to the N.C. coast around New Year's 2009.
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