North Carolina

The highest cocktail bar in Durham is on the sixth-story rooftop of the Durham Hotel, a white-and-gold midcentury building. Like a few other classic structures in downtown Durham, it was once a bank, but it now trades in a different kind of currency: cool.

You don't think inside the box. Why sleep in one? The South is full of unexpected accommodations, from a nineteenth-century castle to a Hobbit hut to the tree house of your dreams. Let us introduce you to sixteen offerings that are anything but ordinary.

I was nineteen the first time I ever drove over the drawbridge into Beaufort, North Carolina. Good Southern girl that I was, I had arrived for a debutante party. One look, and I was absolutely smitten.

Eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina are home to some of the highest elevations in the eastern United States, rising more than 6,000 feet above sea level in some parts. It’s a favorite destination for outdoor enthusiasts who hike and bike its steep trails and brave its rushing rivers.

From James Taylor to Eric Church, Carolina lingers in the hearts of its songwriting sons. This sentiment is shared by students and alumni of the oldest public university in the country, UNC-Chapel Hill, and by those who visit this town in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Today, the only thing predictable in Highlands is the temperature, which is at least ten blessed degrees cooler than the rest of the South on any given day.

In North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians found a way to take care of their people: In 1997, they opened a casino on their lands. Now South Carolina’s Catawba tribe wants to do the same. But there is a problem.

It’s never a bad time to visit North Carolina’s largest city, but lately, Charlotte is on a roll. From a new pro soccer team and groundbreaking Picasso exhibition to the buzzy Camp North End development, the Queen City seems to have something for everyone.

Gems, apples, and bears would seem unrelated—unless you find yourself in Hendersonville, North Carolina. The three are woven into the town’s history and winked at all along Main Street.

The North Carolina capital is taking over the creative scene, one must-see venue at a time.